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Summary and Analysis of A Whisper to the Reader
Summary Twain opens the novel by speaking directly to his reader. He begins by acknowledging his own shortcomings in the legal field, and concedes that such ignorance could result in mistakes when penning a courtroom scene. He then reassures the reader of the legal chapters' accuracy, claiming they were reviewed, revised, and corrected by a trained lawyer - William Hicks. According to the author, Hicks studied law in Southwest Missouri thirty-five years ago, and though he was a bit rusty, brushed up on his authorities for this novel. Twain also reveals that Hicks is currently living in Florence, Italy; this is the same locale where Twain is himself authoring the story. Specifically, Hicks is working in Macaroni Vermicelli's horse feed shed for exercise and board. The shed, Twain tells us, is just beyond the stone where Dante Alighieri - author of the La Divina Commedia - used to sit six hundred years ago. Twain concludes this brief introduction by noting that as he writes, busts of ancient Italian senators look down upon him, just as they stared down on Dante all those centuries ago. He says that the statues are silently asking him to adopt them into his family, which is he is pleased to do, as his own "remotest ancestors are but spring chickens compared with these robed and stately antiques." Analysis On the surface it seems Twain is attempting to breathe an air of legitimacy into his work. Though admitting his own shortcomings in the field of law, he tries to bolster the book's authority by assuring the reader that it has been pored over by a legal expert. Further, the author tries to puff up his own consequence by linking himself to Dante Alighieri - one of history's greatest poets - and by embracing the ancient Florentine senators as his own ancestors. However, closer examination reveals that what appears to be an attempt at legitimacy is in fact absurd satire. Twain's so-called legal expert, who ensures the accuracy of the novel's legal passages, has not practiced law in decades. He has to brush up on the law before he can even revise the book. Similarly, it is somewhat ridiculous to suggest that the author could join the ranks of a writer the likes of Dante by simply sitting upon the same rock. And for all we know, the Florentine senators that Twain so eagerly embraces, may be the same public officials that exiled the illustrious poet in the early Fourteenth Century. Finally, Twain may be using this brief introduction to connect his own life and experiences to the story he is penning. The novel's title character, Pudd'nhead Wilson, may be modeled after Twain's acquaintance, William Hicks. Both men are described as lawyers who go decades without actually practicing the law. Further, the city in which Twain is writing and the busts looking down upon him, may have inspired the author to pen the twins Angelo and Luigi Capello, themselves of Florentine nobility.
Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1 - 3
Summary Chapter 1 When the novel opens, the year is 1830 and we are introduced to the small Missouri town of Dawson's Landing. It is a young town - only fifty years old - but it is growing. A rich, slave-worked backcountry of grain and pork provide the sleepy town with its economic sustenance. And, as it is seated on the Mississippi River, the town is only a half-day's journey to the bustling city of St. Louis. York Leicester Driscoll is forty years old, county judge, and the town's chief citizen. He is descended from the First Families of old Virginia, and is fiercely proud of this ancestry. While he and his wife are nearly happy, they remain childless and therefore are unable to enjoy absolute bliss. The Judge's widowed sister, Mrs. Rachel Pratt, lives with the couple. Percy Northumberland Driscoll is the Judge's younger brother. He is married, and though he had children, he has lost them to a number of diseases. He is a prosperous man with a growing fortune, as he has "a good head for speculations." On February 1 of that year, two babies are born in Percy Driscoll's household. The first is born to him, while the second is born to his slave Roxana (who goes by "Roxy"). Because Mrs. Driscoll dies shortly after her son's birth, Roxy is entrusted with the care of both babies. Finally in this chapter, we are introduced to the novel's title character, David "Pudd'nhead" Wilson. He is a young man from New York, who has wandered to Dawson's Landing to seek his fortune. He is a college graduate and completed a law course a couple of years prior. He earns his nickname (and dooms his future law practice) from a remark he makes shortly after arriving in the town. Hearing a dog barking and yelping, he comments that he wishes he owned half of the dog. When asked why he desired this, he replies that he would kill his half. This remark struck the townspeople as completely moronic - if Wilson killed half of the dog, surely the other half would expire as well. Thus, if he is going to kill the entire dog, why only wish for half? The town was convinced that Wilson was a fool, and from that day forward he was stuck with the nickname "Pudd'nhead." Though he would eventually come to be well liked, the nickname would remain. Chapter 2 Pudd'nhead Wilson buys a small home beside Judge Driscoll's property and sets up a shop in town, hoping to launch his legal career. However, much to Wilson's chagrin, his "half of the dog" remark doomed his law practice before it even began. Unable to get any business as an attorney, Wilson moves his practice into his home and resigns himself to doing some accounting and surveying work. But even in these fields, Wilson is able to attract few customers, and as a result, is left with ample free time to pursue other endeavors. Specifically, he adopts the hobbies of palmistry and fingerprinting. He is hesitant to discuss these hobbies with his fellow townspeople, as they only seem to add to the view that he is a fool. One afternoon, Wilson overhears Percy Driscoll's slave, Roxy, engaging in a flirtatious conversation, with Jasper, a male slave. Roxy, we learn is only 1/16 black and appears to be white; as does her child (who she named Valet de Chambre, or Chambers for short) who is only 1/32 black. Indeed, Percy Driscoll is only able to tell his own son (Thomas à Becket Driscoll) apart from the slave child by the difference in their clothing. Wilson interrupts the slaves' banter and takes fingerprint samples from Roxy and both of the children she is caring for. Back at the household of Percy Driscoll, some money has been stolen. Driscoll gathers his four servants (including Roxy) and demands to know who is responsible for the theft. All four claim innocence, though in reality, Roxy is the only one who is guilt-free (she had just found religion shortly before; otherwise, she too would have snatched some of her master's property). When no one comes forward, Driscoll threatens to sell all four "down the river." For Missouri slaves, sale down the river (to large cotton plantations where slave life is far harsher) is the equivalent of being condemned to hell. The three guilty thieves immediately confess their sin and beg their master's mercy. He gives in and agrees to sell them in town, rather than down river. Driscoll believes he has done a great and noble act, and records it in his diary, so that his son might one day read it and be moved to perform his own deeds of gentleness and humanity. Chapter 3 That night, Roxy is kept awake by the horrifying thought that one day, her own child will grow up and face the risk of being sold down the river. She reflects on how unfair it is that young Master Tom will never have to worry about such a fate, whereas her own child - who has not done anything wrong - is condemned to a life of hardship. She decides that she hates Percy Driscoll because he has no heart for his slaves, and would kill him if she could. However, she recognizes that slaying her master will not resolve her problem, because it will not save her son from being sold down the river by some other master. Roxy resolves to kill herself and young Chambers by jumping into the river. As she is heading out to do so, her eyes fall upon her new Sunday gown. She does not want to be fished out of the water with everyone looking at her in "dis mis'able ole linsey-woolsey," so she puts on the dress. She even does up her hair "like white folks" and is astonished when she looks at herself in the mirror and sees her own beauty. Now ready, she picks up her child and once again prepares to leave. Then, she notices Chambers' own miserable attire - a short little gray tow-linen shirt. Roxy is ashamed that she looks so nice while her baby is dressed so shabby, and so she removes his clothing and replaces it with some of Tom's finer garments. She also takes the coral necklace from around Tom's neck and puts it on Chambers. Roxy looks at her son, adorned in the fancy garb, and then looks over at the child lying in the other cradle. Suddenly, "a strange light dawned in her eyes, and in a moment she was lost in thought." Realizing that but for their attire, Percy Driscoll cannot tell the children apart, she dresses young Tom in Chambers' tow-linen shirt. With this, Roxy's baby is now poised to usurp the position of Driscoll family heir. Roxy justifies her actions by telling herself "white folks has done it." She is remembering a tale she had heard from a black preacher, about a prince who was taken from a palace, with a young impostor left in his place. Again she says to herself, "it ain't no sin, 'ca'se white folks done it." She then starts practicing referring to her child as "Marse Tom" and speaking to him humbly. Simultaneously, she practices using "motherly curtness" toward the true heir, who she now calls Chambers. After calculating her chances of being discovered, Roxy is not too concerned. As previously noted, the master of the house is unable to tell the children apart, and the other slaves who were familiar with the children are all being sold away, to be replaced by new slaves. The one person who she does fear, however, is Pudd'nhead Wilson, who she refuses to label a fool, and who she describes as "de smartes' man in dis town." Roxy takes the two children over to Wilson's house, who gladly takes their fingerprints once again. When he fails to notice anything unusual about the infants, Roxy drops all concern about the matter out of her mind. Analysis Each chapter opens with at least one quote from Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar. We learn in Chapter 5 that this "calendar" is in fact a "whimsical almanac," filled with ironical quips. Though not critical to the story's plot, these satirical passages often foreshadow themes that will arise throughout the chapters. Chapter 1's first quote notes the ability of "ridicule" to annihilate even the noblest of reputations. As an example, it mentions the ass; a humble, hard working creature that has unjustly been labeled stupid. The ass in these opening chapters is Pudd'nhead Wilson. Like the donkey, Wilson has a number of admirable attributes: he is courteous, diligent, and intelligent (indeed, Roxy describes him as the smartest person in the whole town). His hobbies - though odd to the average townsperson - demonstrate his sharp and meticulous mind. An objective observer might predict that Wilson would enjoy great success - both financial and social - in the small town. Yet, for the first two decades of his residence, nothing could be further from the truth. Wilson's ill-timed "half-dog" remark makes him the subject of constant ridicule. He is unable to jumpstart his law practice and is largely rendered a non-entity in Dawson's Landing. Twain thus reveals that while there is no guarantee for its accuracy, a person's reputation can have a considerable impact on the course of their life. The people of Dawson's Landing live in a highly stratified, hierarchical society. At the apex of this social order are the descendents of the First Families of Virginia, represented by such characters as Judge Driscoll, Percy Driscoll, and Pembroke Howard. Below this level of quasi-nobility are white citizens who trace their lineage back to the state of Virginia (though not its founders), followed by other whites, then free blacks, and finally - occupying the lowest rung of Dawson's Landing's social ladder - slaves. So powerful is this social hierarchy, that those on the bottom are forbidden from sitting or eating with citizens of higher status. Instead, they are relegated to the kitchen. Further, this segregation is not limited to the household; the layout of the town itself is similarly structured, with the snug homes of its white population situated up front, while the slave-worked portion is hidden in the backcountry. Having constructed this social framework, Twain is able to deliver a stinging critique of slavery and race relations in the Antebellum South. He does this by showing the arbitrariness of racial classifications. Roxy, for example, is a beautiful woman, and to the unknowing observer, appears to be white. Moreover, she is clearly intelligent and clever, as evidenced by her numerous schemes (such as the switching of the infants). Yet despite her intellect and beauty, the tiny fraction of her blood that is black reduces her to the lowest trenches of society. This arbitrariness is even better demonstrated by the two infants Roxy has been charged with raising. They appear nearly identical (even Percy Driscoll, father of one of the babies, cannot tell them apart but for their attire), yet because 1/32 of Chambers' blood is black, he is destined to a harsh life of servitude, while young Tom's pure white blood ensures him a life of luxury and comfort. The ease with which Roxy switches the children's destinies reveals just how malleable and arbitrary these distinctions are. Pudd'nhead Wilson is unique to its time in its portrayal of slave characters. Most works of this period portrayed blacks as lazy, dishonest, and at times even dangerous. Often, this was a not-so-subtle attempt to spread the propaganda that blacks were an inferior class of citizens who were unable to function independently in society, and that slavery was in fact beneficial to them. Twain, by contrast, takes a different approach in this novel. Though he acknowledges that the slaves in the story steal from their masters, he frames it not as evidence of their flawed characters, but rather as a form of social activism. These acts of thievery are justified expressions of defiance against their oppressors - not desperate acts of greed. It is interesting that when switching the babies, Roxy justifies her deception by noting that white people have done exactly the same thing. Ironically, Roxy takes the conduct of her oppressors as an indication of proper morality. This emulation of whites seems out of her character. In these first three chapters and throughout the novel, Roxy shows a disdain for whites; here, she comments that she hates her master, Percy Driscoll, for his harsh treatment of his servants. Similarly, she often views slavery as a crime committed by whites against her race. Thus, it is not entirely clear why she would use the behavior of white people as a moral compass.
Summary and Analysis of Chapters 4 - 6
Summary Chapter 4 From this point in the novel on, the young usurper is called "Tom," while the real heir is referred to as "Chambers." Tom is a bad boy from the beginning (Roxy describes him as "fractious") and his poor behavior continues as he grows older. While Tom is spoiled and pampered, Chambers is given only mush and milk. As a result, Tom becomes sickly while "meek and docile" Chambers grows up strong, eventually becoming a great fighter and swimmer. Roxy is a "doting fool of a mother" and she becomes more than this because her deception has made her child "her accepted and recognized master." Roxy's affection, however, disgusts Tom, who views his mother as merely his slave and chattel. This leads Roxy to constant schemes of vengeance, as she plans "his exposure to the world as an impostor and slave." But, these schemes are always forgotten as soon as there is a "moment Tom happened to be good to her" and then she was proud her son was "lording it among the whites and securely avenging their crimes against her race." Similarly, Chambers suffers from Tom's cruelty. The slave learns from Percy Driscoll early on that he can never defend himself against his young master. The two boys are together throughout their childhood, with Chambers serving as Tom's bodyguard. One day when the boys are fifteen, Tom gets a cramp while showing off in the river and shouts for help. The other boys assume Tom is just playing a joke and leave him to drown. Chambers, believing his master is in real danger, dives in and saves Tom's life. This humiliation proves too much for Tom to endure, as the other boys laugh at him and mock him for the fact that he owes his "second birth into life" to a slave. Tom orders Chambers to attack the laughing boys, and when Chambers refuses (because there are too many of them) Tom wounds him with a knife. During the fall of Tom and Chambers' fifteenth year, Dawson's Landing experiences two grand funerals - one for Colonel Cecil Burleigh Essex, and one for Percy Driscoll. Shortly before Driscoll's death, his brother purchases Chambers to save the family from the scandal of selling him down the river for no reason (as Tom hoped to do). On his deathbed, Driscoll releases Roxy from her servitude, and she decides to take her freedom and become a chambermaid on a steamboat. Tom is sent into the keeping of Judge Driscoll and his wife, and these "childless people were glad to get him." Debts from Percy Driscoll's failed land speculations leave Tom a pauper. However, he is comforted when the Judge tells him that "he should be his heir and have all his fortune when he died." Chapter 5 After two years of child-filled bliss, Mrs. Driscoll passes away. Two years after her death, when Tom has reached nineteen years of age, he is sent to school at Yale. However, he only makes it two years before giving up and returning to Dawson's Landing. While away at school, Tom picks up some bad habits - particularly drinking and gambling. He becomes bored with the small town and frequently escapes to the bustling city of St. Louis, where he can engage in his vices unbeknownst to his uncle. Before long, Tom's digressions get him into "deep waters." Judge Driscoll retires from the bench in 1850, and serves as President of the Freethinker's Society. The society's only other member is Pudd'nhead Wilson, and the two meet weekly for freethinking discussions. Wilson's friendship with the town's chief citizen does not alleviate his reputation woes; in fact, it exacerbates it when the Judge decides to take some of the "ostensible philosophy" from Wilson's "whimsical almanac" and read it to some of the town's citizens. Apparently, "irony was not for those people" and any doubt about Wilson being a pudd'nhead are immediately removed. Widow Cooper - who the town affectionately refers to as "Aunt Patsy" - lives in "a snug and comely cottage" with her daughter, Rowena, and her sons, all of whom are of no consequence. Aunt Patsy is in need of a lodger to supplement her income. She puts out an ad, and receives a response letter from a set of Italian twins - Luigi and Angelo Capello - who offer to pay double for the room. The family is thrilled (particularly Rowena) as they will soon become the talk of the town. Judge Driscoll even stops by to discuss the letter and congratulate them. Luigi and Angelo eventually arrive at the Cooper home and are described as "the handsomest, the best dressed, the most distinguished-looking pair of young fellows the West had ever seen." Chapter 6 The twins' charm quickly wins over the Cooper family's good graces. Over breakfast the following morning, Angelo explains the pair's history, telling them that their father had been a Florentine nobleman. However, because he had been on the losing side of a war, the twins' family was forced to flee Italy for Germany. At age ten, Luigi and Angelo were orphaned and seized to pay off their late parents' debts. The brothers were musical prodigies and fluent in four languages, and as a result were "placed among the attractions of a cheap museum in Berlin to earn the liquidation money." Angelo further informs the family that it took the twins "two years to get out of that slavery." Aunt Patsy's slave, Nancy, interrupts breakfast to tell the family that the house is overflowing with people who have come to see the foreigners. This is a proud day for the widow and Rowena, and for the first time they understand "the real meaning of that great word Glory." As each townsperson comes in, Rowena and her mother introduce them to "Count Luigi" and "Count Angelo." The citizens of Dawson's Landing had never before been in the presence of a titled person, and had not expected to be this morning. They were honest people and did not pretend to be at ease before the twins. While a few "tried to rise to the emergency, and got out an awkward 'My lord' or 'Your lordship,'" most simply "fumbled through the handshake and passed on, speechless." When the twins knock out "a classic four-handed piece on the piano," the people of Dawson's Landing "realised that for once in their lives they were hearing masters." Analysis The key theme raised in these chapters is nature versus nurture. More specifically, the chapters pose the question of whether it is an individual's innate qualities that determine the type of person he or she becomes, or whether it is the environment in which he or she is raised that is controlling. In truth, the book does not expressly provide a conclusive answer either way. Tom Driscoll, or really the young usurper posing as Tom, is a perfect example. On one hand, one might argue that "nurture" is responsible for Tom's disposition; being raised white and rich led to him becoming a spoiled, cruel young man. This argument would further assert that had "Tom" remained a slave and received a more austere upbringing, he likely would have grown to be meek and docile, as Chambers did. On the other hand, it might be suggested that it was Tom's inherent "nature" which determined the kind of man he would become; that his laziness and dishonesty are in fact manifestations of his inborn slave qualities. In fact, Roxy later suggests precisely this, claiming that it's Tom's "blackness" that causes his cowardice. The argument that Tom's laziness and dishonesty are a result of his "nature," can be undermined. Unlike his contemporaries, Mark Twain refuses to portray his black and slave characters as inherently dishonest or lazy individuals. Rather, as Twain frames it, acts of thievery by slaves against their masters are a form of defiance and rebellion. It is a way for the oppressed to strike back at their oppressors. As such, it is unlikely the author would consider such traits as cowardice, laziness, and deceitfulness to be the natural qualities of African Americans. Rather, it seems more probable that Tom's deeply flawed personality and character are the products of an over-indulgent childhood. Another dominant issue in these chapters is the debate as to whether Roxy has actually "saved" her child by switching him in infancy. Undoubtedly, saving her infant was the motive behind Roxy's scheme. She feared that her child would one day be sold down the river, and wanted to protect him from this harsh, unbearable fate. Measured in this way, Roxy has arguably saved her baby, as he is now guaranteed a life of luxury, free from the risk of being sold to a deep-South cotton plantation (at least for the time being; by the end of the novel, we will see that this is not actually the case). However, it is unclear whether the person she has turned him into is a fate worse than being sent down the river. Roxy, by swapping the children, has effectively transformed her precious child into the thing she despises most - a white master who shows no sympathy or consideration for the plight of slaves or blacks. To Tom, Roxy is no longer his mother, or even a human being for that matter. "She was merely his chattel, now, his convenience, his dog, his cringing and helpless slave." So disgusted is she by the monster he has become, that Roxy begins to plot Tom's exposure. Thus, while Roxy was successful in saving her son from a harsh life on a Southern plantation, there is a considerable chance that she has doomed his soul. In Chapter 6, Twain uses the story of Luigi and Angelo Capello's childhoods to once again highlight the arbitrariness of racial classifications. The twins recount how they were essentially sold into slavery as children to pay off their parents' debts. They were forced to work and perform without compensation, and even had to beg for food. The twins' harsh childhood is a parallel for the experiences of slaves and their children in the American South. Luigi and Angelo are able to work their way out of slavery, quite literally becoming self-made men. Moreover, for overcoming such obstacles, they are lavished with praise, admiration, and respect. By contrast, African American slaves don't share the freedom to pull themselves out of their oppression, and are dependent entirely on the whim of their masters. American blacks who do manage to escape the bonds of slavery do not receive the respect of the community. Instead, they remain at the lower levels of society. The only difference between the twins and slaves in the American South is race. Luigi and Angelo are white, while American slaves are not. To punctuate this arbitrariness, Twain notes that one of the Capello twins has a darker complexion than the other. Of course, the townspeople make no distinction between the two brothers in response to this difference in skin tone. Doing so would be irrational, as the twins are otherwise "exact duplicates." Yet, inexplicably, the town does draw a distinction between a pair like Tom and Chambers based on race, even though they are so similar in appearance that Roxy is able to switch them without attracting anyone's notice.
Summary and Analysis of Chapters 7 - 9
Summary Chapter 7 Judge Driscoll gets the honor of being the first to display the twins in public, parading down Main Street with them in his buggy. He shows the twins the new graveyard, the jail, the Freemason's Hall, and the churches. He also takes them to the town hall, the independent fire company puts out an imaginary fire for them, and the Capellos inspect the militia company's muskets. The Judge introduces the twins to the Freethinker's Society and to Pudd'nhead Wilson, to whom they take an immediate liking. Luigi and Angelo even agree to visit Wilson in his home. That night, while awaiting the twins' arrival, Wilson puzzles over something he had noticed that morning. He had been up at dawn and had seen "a young woman where properly no young woman belonged." It was in Judge Driscoll's house, in the room belonging to young Tom. Tom, the Judge, the Judge's widowed sister Mrs. Pratt, and three slaves were the only ones who were supposed to be in the house. It was a mystery who this girl with a summer dress and pink-veiled bonnet (who Wilson had seen practicing a few dance steps) could be. Toward noon, Wilson had stopped off to see if Mrs. Pratt could throw any light on the mysterious girl's identity. To Wilson's disappointment, he had no luck with the widow and the girl remained an enigma. Chapter 8 The novel now catches up with Roxy, who had been thirty-five years old when she was set free and went off to become a chambermaid. Roxy spends eight years as a chambermaid aboard a steamboat, where she was a favorite of the officers. However, she develops rheumatism in her arms and is forced to resign her position. She had lived a steady life and had saved up a good deal of money for her old age. However, her bank fails and takes her savings along with it, leaving Roxy a pauper and homeless. She decides to return home to Dawson's Landing. The years have worn away her bitterness toward her son, and she longs to see him. Her plan is to go "fawn upon him," and she hopes "time had modified him, and that he would be glad to see his long-forgotten old nurse and treat her gently." Roxy learns from Judge Driscoll's slaves that Tom is away in St. Louis, and that he spends most of his time there. Chambers explains to her that Judge Driscoll gives Tom a monthly allowance of fifty dollars to stay away, because "ole marster kin git along better when young marster's away de he kin when he's in de town." But this allowance is not enough to cover Tom's gambling debts, which the Judge soon learns about and must pay two hundred dollars to settle. This leads the judge to "dissenhurrit" (disinherit) Tom. Chambers concludes that it was not long before the Judge forgave his nephew and Tom was again entitled to the inheritance. Chambers is sent to tell Tom that his old nurse, Roxy, wishes to visit him. Tom is outraged at Chambers, and asks, "Who gave you permission to come and disturb me with the social attention of [blacks]?" Tom then beats and kicks the slave harshly. Roxy is finally allowed in to see him, but is disappointed by the rude treatment she receives. Suddenly, "the fires of old wrongs flamed up in her breast and began to burn fiercely." She tells Tom he has lost one chance with her, and he'll have to get on his knees and beg for another (words that send a chill through Tom's heart). Roxy then threatens to reveal everything that she knows about Tom to his uncle. Tom slumps to his knees and begins begging Roxy to tell him what she knows. She orders him to meet her in the haunted house later that night. Chapter 9 When Tom goes to meet Roxy at the haunted house that night, he learns that his new gambling debts were not the items that Roxy was threatening to reveal to the Judge. Rather, she has a far more shocking revelation for him. She tells him that he is no more related to the Driscolls than she is; that he was born a slave and is in fact her son, Valet de Chambre. He also hears that the slave who he has been tormenting all these years is the real Tom and true heir to the Driscoll estate. Roxy then tells Tom that all of this has been written down and given to someone for safekeeping, and that this person knows to reveal the truth should anything happen to her. In reality, this is not true, but she knows her son well enough to be certain that he will believe her. Roxy then turns her attention to "business" and tells Tom that she wants half of his monthly allowance. She inquires as to how he plans to take care of his outstanding gambling debts without alerting Judge Driscoll to their existence (which would almost certainly lead to his being disinherited again). Tom admits "he had been prowling about in disguise, stealing small valuables from private houses." Roxy approves of this conduct and offers to help. However, Tom indicates he would feel better and safer is she were not in Dawson's Landing. Roxy agrees to leave town. Finally, Tom asks his mother who his real father is, and she is not ashamed to tell him. In truth she is quite proud to announce that his father was Colonel Cecil Burleigh Essex. She even remarks that no slave in town is as high born as he is. Analysis Set free by a dying Percy Driscoll, Roxy becomes a chambermaid. This is an interesting professional choice, as it likely means she has to serve wealthy white people - essentially a modified form of slavery. Yet, Roxy doesn't resent this new form of servitude; rather, she embraces and becomes infatuated with it. This suggests that the real evil of slavery is not the manual labor (particularly in a town like Dawson's Landing, where treatment of slaves is relatively lenient); instead, the evil is rooted in the subordination and ownership of another human being, as though they are mere property. Having been released from the legal bonds that previously tied her, Roxy gladly takes up this job serving others, because it her choice to do so. She is now her own person, making her own decisions, and being fairly compensated for what she does. Thus, though it may initially appear that there is little difference between her prior enslaved existence and her present free life, the significance of the change is considerable. When Roxy returns to Dawson's Landing and visits Tom, she falls victim to his usual disdain for African Americans. However, she quickly turns the tables on him and he is soon on his knees, begging for her mercy. This scene is symbolic, as Roxy, the black, former slave has risen above the white, tyrannical slaveholder. In that moment, it is as though she is representing her entire race as she gets vengeance for the centuries of crimes committed against them by their white oppressors. This same symbolism is present when she orders her former master to retrieve a bottle of whisky for her. However, the symbolism in these scenes is trumped by their irony, for the cruel "white master" who Roxy is imposing her will over is in fact her son, a black slave himself. As in previous chapters, the arbitrariness of racial distinctions is highlighted here. Prominent white citizens such as Judge Driscoll, Percy Driscoll, and Pembroke Howard premise their quasi-nobility on the grandeur of their ancestry. Because they are descended from the founding families of Virginia, they view themselves as being in a higher class of humanity. However, if ancestry is the basis for nobility, then Roxy's son should be among the town's leading citizens. As Roxy explains, his father, Colonel Essex, was himself in the line of Virginia's First Families. Yet, without Roxy's act of deception, her son would have been destined to the life of a slave - simply because of the tiny fraction of his blood that is black. After Roxy informs Tom of his true identity, he reveals to her that he has been sneaking around town, robbing the unsuspecting citizens of Dawson's Landing. A stereotypical view of slaves at the time was that they were dishonest. Thus, one might argue that this is Tom's "nature" winning out over his upbringing. However, Twain rejects the image of slaves as inherently deceitful. For Twain, acts of thievery by slaves are in fact acts of survival, defiance, and retribution against their oppressors. But here, Tom's thefts do not conform to this model. Living his life as a wealthy white man, he certainly has no oppressor to rebel against. Rather, Tom acts out of greed, laziness, and desperation. He likely steals because of his over-indulgent upbringing, which has rendered him lazy (and therefore unable to work for the money he needs) and has left him with a sense of entitlement, so that he feels like he can just take what he wants. Under this view, it is "nurture," and not "nature" that has led to Tom's dishonesty.
Summary and Analysis of Chapters 10 - 12
Summary Chapter 10 Roxy's revelation dramatically alters Tom's perception of the world around him. Never before had he given any thought to "how hard the [slave's] fate seems." Now he questions, "what crime did the uncreated first [slave] commit that the curse of birth was decreed for him?" He further asks, "why is this awful difference made between white and black?" When walking down the street, Tom finds himself involuntarily yielding the road to whites. Everywhere he goes, he fears suspicion and detection. When Aunt Patsy's daughter, Rowena (whom he worships), invites him to dinner, he makes up an excuse, as he "was afraid to enter and sit with the dread white folks on equal terms." Even meals with his uncle have become difficult, as he constantly fears discovery. It is not long before this passes and Tom is back to his old ways. His previous thieving raid had brought in enough money to pay off his gaming debts and save him from exposure. However, after a subsequent trip to St. Louis, new debts are incurred and another raid is required. We learn that Tom's disguise for these raids is women's clothing, and in fact, Tom was the mysterious girl that Wilson had glanced through his window. Tom had seen Wilson and assumed that Wilson could see him as well, so he had decided to entertain him with a few "graces and attitudes." Tom changes from his disguise into Roxy's somber black clothing, assumes the stoop of old age (to throw off Wilson, in case he spots Tom leaving the house), and slips out. Tom considers putting off the robberies to a later date, but then Roxy tells him of the grand reception for the twins at the Cooper house (which is diverting the town's attention) and changes his mind. Tom robs homes throughout Dawson's Landing, even stopping off at the reception to steal from the Coopers. Chapter 11 The twins finally arrive at Wilson's home and he entertains them with some passages from his calendar. The group is soon interrupted by Tom, who drops in and joins the party. Tom intentionally gets under Wilson's skin, bringing up his failure to get his law practice off the ground and then turning to Wilson's odd hobbies. He begins by mentioning the fingerprint collection, to which Luigi and Angelo add their own marks. Tom then discusses Wilson's penchant for palmistry. Wilson's pride is saved, however, by the twins' claim that they not only consider palmistry a serious science, but have also had their palms accurately read in the past. Tom is stunned when he hears this. Wilson proceeds to read the lines on Luigi's palm, and finds that he once killed someone; a fact to which Luigi readily concedes. Tom cannot believe his ears, and exclaims that "a man's own hand is his deadliest enemy." The twins explain that Luigi had once been given an unusually shaped knife with a bejeweled sheath as a gift from an Indian prince. Hoping to steal the valuable weapon, a thief had snuck into the twins' room. Though Angelo was asleep, Luigi was awake (with the knife under his pillow) and saw the intruder. As the burglar is about to kill his brother, Luigi slays him with the knife. This story proves quite informative for Tom, who had stolen this very knife from the Cooper home during the reception. He had assumed the jewels were glass, and prior to hearing this tale would have pawned the knife off for a far cheaper price. The party is once again interrupted, this time by John Buckstone, a local politician who invites the twins to the local meeting of the rum party (Missouri had both rum and anti-rum parties at the time). At the meeting, the Capello twins are invited to join the party's membership; Luigi gladly accepts, while Angelo, a teetotaler, does not wish to join. An intoxicated Tom Driscoll then inadvertently insults Luigi. Because the insult was "delivered in the presence of four hundred strangers," Luigi cannot "let the matter pass or . . . delay the squaring of the account." Luigi draws back and delivers "a kick of such titanic vigour that it lifted Tom clear over the footlights and landed him on the heads of the first row of the Sons of Liberty." A riot breaks out and soon the hall catches on fire. Luckily, there are enough anti-rummies at the fire company to respond to the disaster. However, the firefighters are a bit overzealous (they do not often get the opportunity to show off) and nearly drown the fleeing rummies. Chapter 12 Judge Driscoll is in bed and asleep by ten o'clock on the night of the fire, and is awake early the next morning to go fishing with his friend, Pembroke Howard. As a result, the Judge is unaware that Luigi Capello kicked his nephew. Shame overwhelms the Judge when he learns that Tom's response to the kick was to bring assault charges against the twin. Judge Driscoll is descended from the First Families of Virginia, and he adheres to a strict code of honor. According to this unwritten code, Tom should have reclaimed his dignity by challenging Luigi to a duel, rather than being so cowardly as to resort to a court of law. However, the criminal charges do result in Wilson's legal case; he defends Luigi, but loses and his client is fined five dollars. Tom admits to his uncle that he is too afraid to meet the Italian in armed combat. Having a coward in his family is more than Judge Driscoll can stomach, and he rips up the will naming Tom as his beneficiary, right in front of his nephew. The Judge then resolves to salvage his family's honor by fighting the duel against Luigi himself. Following the destruction of the will, Tom resolves to change his ways, so that he might win back his uncle's favor. Analysis As a result of Roxy's revelation that he was born a slave, Tom's worldview is utterly transformed. For the very first time in his life, Tom sees blacks as human beings rather than as mere property or animals. He even bemoans the arbitrariness of society's distinction between races. In addition to sympathizing with the plight of Southern blacks, Tom starts acting as though he was raised a slave and subordinated for his whole life. He yields the road to whites and is uncomfortable dining with them, as he no longer sees himself as their equal. This is perhaps the novel's strongest support for the nature over nurture theory. It appears that Tom's true nature - that of a slave - has emerged. Despite having been raised a wealthy white man and afforded all of life's luxuries, Tom suddenly finds himself acting as though he is at the bottom of the social ladder. His yielding to whites suggests that the oppression his black ancestors suffered for centuries has manifested itself within him. Yet, the nurture theory ultimately prevails. Not even Roxy's revelation can fully and permanently overcome Tom's spoiled upbringing. After a brief period of humility, he morphs back to the cruel, greedy brat he has always been. After interrupting Wilson's conversation with Luigi and Angelo, Tom begins mocking Pudd'nhead's hobbies, such as palmistry and fingerprinting. He makes fun of them, not because of any personal animosity or objection to the activities, but rather because he simply does not understand them. This is a common human reaction; rather than attempt to learn about and understand things that seem foreign and confusing to them, people often ridicule and belittle them. This aspect of human nature is responsible for Wilson's nickname. When the people of Dawson's Landing meet Wilson, they do not understand his odd remarks and habits, so they label him a fool. Had they taken the time to get to know him, they likely would have thought very highly of him, as Judge Driscoll and the twins do. It would have especially have been to Tom's benefit to make an effort to learn about and understand Wilson's quirks, as it is Wilson's interest in fingerprinting that is ultimately responsible for Tom's undoing. Ironically, Tom himself notes, "a man's own hand is his deadliest enemy!" Honor is an important theme that is introduced in these chapters. It is first seen during the rum party meeting, when Tom inadvertently insults Luigi. Being a man of honor and dignity, Luigi cannot stand for being made a fool, particularly in front of such a large audience. Rather than ignoring the remark or simply attributing it to Tom's state of inebriation, Luigi acts quickly to restore his pride. He draws back and delivers a tremendous kick to the unsuspecting offender. We again see honor arise as a theme when Judge Driscoll learns that Luigi launched his nephew with a powerful kick. As a descendent of the First Families of Virginia, honor and reputation are particularly important commodities to the Judge. To Judge Driscoll, the Italian's kick was a grave affront to the entire Driscoll family. In order to remedy this harm to his reputation, Tom must meet the twin on the field of honor and fight him in a duel - perhaps to the death. That his nephew could potentially lose his life never enters into the Judge's calculation. To him, nothing is more important than restoring his family's good name. Thus, when he learns that Tom is unwilling to engage in such a duel and instead resorts to a court of law, Judge Driscoll is beside himself with anger. He is so angry that he tears apart his will, disinheriting his nephew. Today, most people might consider turning to the legal system to be the most prudent course of action. But according to Judge Driscoll and the code of honor to which he adheres, reliance on the law amounts to an act of cowardice. This seems to be an especially ironic view, given the fact that Judge Driscoll himself used to be an officer of the court.
Summary and Analysis of Chapters 13 - 15
Summary Chapter 13 After being rebuked and disinherited by his uncle, Tom longs for some "cheerful company" to raise his spirits. He sees a light on in Pudd'nhead Wilson's house and decides this will do, as Wilson has always been courteous toward him. Wilson tells Tom that he is ashamed of him for treating his uncle so poorly. Pudd'nhead indicates that had he been aware that Judge Driscoll was sleeping and did not know about the incident, he "would have kept that case out of court," so as to give the Judge "a gentleman's chance." This puzzles Tom; if the case was kept out of court, Wilson would not have gotten his first legal case after all of these years. However, unlike Tom, Wilson puts the Judge's honor above his own self-interest. Justice Robinson, John Buckstone, and Constable Blake stop by Wilson's house to discuss the recent thefts. The constable reveals that a woman is suspected of the robberies. Wilson immediately thinks of the mysterious young girl he had seen in Tom's room, but she is quickly put out of his mind when the constable specifies that the suspect is a stooping old woman that someone saw coming out of one of the robbed homes and the constable himself saw getting onto a ferry. Wilson notes that the old woman will have difficulty pawning off the items she stole, as the twins notified the pawnbrokers when they discovered the Indian knife was missing. Luigi and Angelo have offered a five hundred dollar reward for the weapon, as well as a reward of equal value for the thief. The chapter concludes with Wilson being asked to run for Mayor as the Democratic Party's candidate. This signifies that Wilson is finally being accepted into "the town's life and activities," and he accepts the offer. Chapter 14 Luigi readily accepts Judge Driscoll's duel challenge. This wins him the Judge's admiration, who states "it's an honour as well as a pleasure to stand up before such a man." Pembroke Howard will be serving as the Judge's second in the duel, while Wilson will be Luigi's. Angelo and a surgeon will also be present on the field of battle, and each competitor is to have three shots apiece. Before leaving for the duel, the Judge realizes he may soon be dead and he has a change of heart toward Tom. He blames himself for Tom's cowardice, having "indulged him to his hurt, instead of training him up severely, and making a man of him." The will is redrawn and Tom once again stands to inherit the fortune. Tom sees his uncle writing something, and as soon as the Judge sets off for the duel, Tom has the will in his hands and is examining it. He is comforted to learn that he's "got the fortune again." However, he quickly returns to being distraught when he remembers that Wilson has rendered him unable to pawn the knife. Thus, he is still without an immediate source of income to pay off his outstanding debts, creating the danger of exposure should his creditors become impatient and seek out his uncle directly for payment. Tom decides to go to Roxy with his despair. At the haunted house, he learns about the duel from Roxy, who is disgusted that her son was so cowardly as to avoid fighting the duel himself. She is convinced that it's Tom's inherent "blackness" that has made him such a disgrace. She informs Tom that Luigi was injured though not killed in the duel. Moreover, a stray bullet grazed her own nose, and some of Judge Driscoll's hair was snipped off by a shot. Tom cannot believe his bad luck at his uncle not being killed in the gunfight. He reveals to Roxy the danger he currently faces from his creditors, and his mother comes up with a plan to hold them off for a while. Specifically, Tom will offer to pay interest on his debts and will use the loot he recently stole in the raids to meet this interest obligation. Then when Judge Driscoll dies, he can use his inheritance to pay off the remaining debt. Roxy then tells her son that his drinking and gambling days are over. Further, she says that she will follow him to St. Louis to ensure he behaves himself. Chapter 15 Nothing makes the people of Dawson's Landing prouder than a duel. In their eyes, the participants "had reached the summit of human honour." As Luigi's second, Wilson has become "a made man" and his success in the mayoral race is now secured. Similarly, the twins are now "prodigiously great," accepted by the townspeople with enthusiasm and even asked to stand for seats on the aldermanic board. This embrace of the twins infuriates Tom, who still holds a grudge against Luigi for kicking him, and against Angelo for being Luigi's brother. Tom takes out his frustration on Wilson and Constable Blake, who he runs into on the street. He goads the two men about their inability to apprehend the old woman that is allegedly responsible for the town robberies. Further, he plants suspicion about the twins in the two men's minds. Tom does this by first uncovering Wilson's plot to catch the thief: The five hundred dollar reward for the knife was publicly advertised, while the reward for the thief was privately communicated to the pawnbrokers. That way, the thief - unaware that there was a bounty on her head - would feel comfortable going into a pawnshop to sell her loot, and would promptly be captured. Tom points out that this scheme is foolproof, and that had the knife actually been stolen, the thief surely would have been uncovered by now. The only possible explanation, he postulates, is either that no such knife ever existed, or the twins still possess it themselves. He further notes that this would allow the twins to look wealthy and important by offering up the reward, without actually costing them anything. This explanation completely wins over the constable, and even causes Wilson to doubt the twins. Back at the Driscoll household, Tom reveals to his uncle that Luigi is a confessed murderer. Tom claims that he only pretended to be afraid of the Italian, in order to avoid the more serious disgrace of meeting an assassin in a duel. In the Judge's mind, this restores the family's honor, and therefore it restores Tom to his favor. Judge Driscoll is outraged and deeply offended that the assassin pretended to be a gentleman and met him on the field of honor. He resolves to bring about the demise of the twins' political campaign. As the chapter closes, Tom is on a transient boat with his large bag of plunder. This is the loot he stole in the raid, and he plans on liquidating it to carry out Roxy's plan to hold off the creditors. However, as Tom sleeps aboard the vessel, a fellow thief robs him of all the items. Analysis When Roxy learns that Tom is too afraid to fight Luigi, she attributes his cowardice to his black blood. Her comment suggests that no matter how hard Tom tries to clean up his act, he is doomed to failure due to his inherent slave nature. According to Roxy, Tom's black blood has infected his soul and thereby guaranteed his downfall. Roxy's comments are interesting for a number of reasons. First, she has the same black blood running through her own veins and actually has more than her son (since she is 1/16 black, while Tom is merely 1/32). Yet Roxy has never indicated that her black blood has doomed her to failure or that cowardice is in her inherent nature. Nor has any of her actions so suggested. Unlike Tom, who was too afraid to step anywhere near the scene of the duel, Roxy stands close by (and is even grazed by a bullet) to watch. The only real difference between Roxy and her son (and perhaps the only plausible explanation for their distinct personalities and traits) is that Roxy has lived most of her life in slavery, while Tom grew up wealthy and free. This suggests that it is "nurture" rather than "nature" which is really at work here. Additionally, Roxy's suggestion that Tom's inherent "nature" is to blame for his failures is further undermined by her comments about his high birth. She has previously indicated that Colonel Essex - before his death, a prominent citizen of Dawson's Landing who was himself descended from Virginia's First Families - is Tom's father. Here, she adds that she and Tom are descended from Captain John Smith ("de highest blood dat Ole Virginny ever turned out") and Pocahontas. If an individual's blood is the determining factor in whether he or she should succeed or fail in life, then Tom's noble bloodline would suggest that he should be the town's leading citizen. Honor continues to play an important role in these chapters. We see that Judge Driscoll is not the only character who is disappointed and disgusted by Tom's "dishonorable" refusal to fight Count Luigi in a duel. For example, Pudd'nhead Wilson tells Tom how ashamed he is of him for dishonoring his uncle's name. Wilson indicates that had he been aware that Judge Driscoll did not know about the kick, he would have kept Tom's assault charges out of court to give the Judge a "gentleman's chance." To Wilson, himself a lawyer and officer of the court, the Judge's honor is more important than his own legal career. Similarly, Roxy voices her disgust at Tom's cowardice. Thus, it appears that the honor code is not limited to the descendents of Virginia's First Families; rather, it is pervasive throughout the town. Indeed, we see just how highly the town values honor after Judge Driscoll and Luigi's duel. So impressed are the townspeople with the duel's participants for honorably engaging each other in battle, that the combatants, along with their seconds, become town heroes. The reader also sees that the Judge's honor code is somewhat hypocritical. When Luigi first accepts the Judge's challenge and agrees to engage him in a duel, the Judge expresses admiration and respect for the twin, remarking that it is an "honor" and a "privilege" to face the Italian. Yet, he does and about-face when he learns that Luigi once killed a man. Suddenly, Judge Driscoll views Luigi as a scoundrel who is unfit to stand on the field of honor. Moreover, he begins plotting ways to undermine and destroy the twins' political campaign. The Judge's response to the news that Luigi had previously killed someone is quite hypocritical. Shortly before learning this, he had gone out to the field of honor and met Luigi in mortal combat. At that time, the Judge knew that either combatant might kill the other. Yet not only did he not condemn this willingness to take life, he commended it as an indicator of honor and valor. It is therefore somewhat confusing as to why Judge Driscoll responds so angrily when Tom reveals that Luigi once killed a man. Additionally, we see in these chapters just how clever Pudd'nhead Wilson is. He devises the plan to publicly announce the five hundred dollar reward for the Indian knife, while privately informing pawnbrokers that there is an equal reward for the capture of the culprit. If Tom had not been present when Wilson was discussing the rewards with Constable Blake and Justice Robinson, the plan would have likely been successful in securing Tom's apprehension. However, Wilson's intelligence does have its limits, for he never suspects that Tom could be the thief, and thus speaks freely of the scheme to catch the thief in the thief's own presence.
Summary and Analysis of Chapters 16 - 18
Summary Chapter 16 Roxy finds Tom in such a miserable state that her heart is touched and her maternal instincts rise. She tells her son that she loves him, and Tom winces in response. Even though he has black blood in him, this "was far from reconciling him to that despised race." Roxy then comes up with yet another plan to save her son from ruin. She says she is worth six hundred dollars, and offers to let him sell her back into slavery. She says, "Ain't you my chile? En does you know anything dat a mother won't do for her chile?" The plan, as Roxy originally intends it, is for Tom to find a farmer up country (where conditions for slaves are better) and to sell Roxy there, using the proceeds to pay off his outstanding gambling debts. Then, after a year has passed, Tom is to buy her back into freedom. However, Tom betrays his own mother and sells her to a cotton planter in Arkansas - or in other words, "down the river," where slave conditions are especially harsh. He justifies his deception by convincing himself that Roxy won't even know where she is and that by the time she figures it out, she'll have become accustomed to her surroundings. Moreover, she will have the knowledge that the slavery is merely temporary and that she will get her freedom back in one short year. Tom's action is the basest form of treachery, for "by voluntarily going into slavery - slavery of any kind, mild or severe, or of any duration, brief or long - was making a sacrifice for him compared with which death would have been a poor and commonplace one." Roxy is taken away from St. Louis aboard a boat. Having worked so many years as a chambermaid, Roxy is quite familiar with the operation of a steamboat. Consequently, she quickly deciphers that the ship is traveling downstream with the current. She laments, "I's sole down de river!" Chapter 17 The election season gets underway, and the Italian twins throw all their efforts into their campaign for the alderman board. However, their campaign suffers for a number of reasons. First, Luigi and Angelo were too popular, and thus experienced some natural backlash. Secondly, speculation was spreading that the reward for the lost knife was just a hoax. The twins are relying on this election to restore their good names, and thus work even harder to succeed. However, Judge Driscoll and his nephew work just as hard, if not harder, to undermine the twins' efforts. The final straw comes when the Judge delivers a speech to the town. He indicates his belief that the reward for the stolen knife is merely "humbug and buncombe, and that its owner would know where to find it whenever he should have occasion to assassinate somebody." This speech causes a tremendous commotion in the crowd and throughout the town. Pudd'nhead Wilson is elected mayor, while Luigi and Angelo are soundly defeated. The friendless twins withdraw from public life to suffer their humiliation in solitude. Judge Driscoll has been left "prostrated" by his efforts, but there are rumors that he'll be receiving a challenge from Luigi as soon as the Judge is well again. Chapter 18 After escaping from the Arkansas plantation, Roxy returns to St. Louis as a runaway slave. Disguised in men's clothing and with a blackened face, she confronts Tom. However, she is too heartbroken and worn out to storm around in anger. She tells her son of her ordeal: Though her master was a decent man, his wife (a Yank) was jealous of Roxy's beauty. As a result, the wife made sure that the overseer was particularly harsh on Roxy, who often suffered lashes because she could not keep up with the work of the other slaves. One day, Roxy witnessed the overseer thrashing a young slave child who had stolen some food. She took the overseer's stick away from him and struck him with it. Roxy then escaped on a horse and rode down to the river, where she planned to drown herself, rather than risk being caught and put back to work. As luck should have it, Roxy recognized a passing steamboat as a vessel on which she used to work as a chambermaid. She climbed aboard the ship and her friends provided her with passage to St. Louis. When she arrived, she recognized her master, who was passing out and posting runaway slave notices in town. Roxy now interrogates her son to determine whether the Arkansas farmer has been to see him. The truth is that the farmer has in fact paid Tom a visit, and told Tom that he suspected that there was something dubious about the sale of Roxy. Tom had been confident, however, that that his mother's maternal instinct would prevent her from ever coming to St. Louis, as she would surely be aware of how much trouble this would get him into. Now that she has disappointed him with her arrival, Tom feels that he has no choice but to turn her over to the farmer, or else he will be forced to repay him (a proposition he cannot afford). Roxy is too clever for her son and figures he must have promised the master that he would assist in capturing her. Roxy then orders Tom to go to his uncle, confess what he has done, and get the money to purchase her freedom. She threatens that if he fails to do so, she will go to the Judge herself. Tom gives in and agrees to do it, though he privately decides that rather than confessing to his uncle, he will merely steal from him. Analysis In Chapter 16, Roxy offers to make the ultimate sacrifice for her son and demonstrates just how deeply she loves him. Herein lies the novel's true tragedy. Not only does Tom not appreciate or reciprocate his mother's affection, he betrays her at precisely the moment she is giving up everything for him. When Roxy sees the miserable state Tom is in, her maternal instinct takes over. All of her disappointment for his cowardice and failures and all of her resentment for the years of cruel treatment are washed away. All that remains is a mother's love. Yet, this love is repulsive to Tom, who still views blacks as a despised race. We see here that "nurture" remains triumphant over "nature." Learning of his black blood and slave origins is not enough to truly transform Tom's world view. In his mind, he is still a wealthy slaveholder and blacks (including his mother) are mere property. The true demonstration of motherly love comes when Roxy offers to forfeit her freedom and be sold back into slavery to pay off her son's debts. As Twain writes, to return to slavery - even temporarily - is a greater sacrifice even than giving up one's life. But at the same time that Roxy demonstrates her love and courage, Tom shows his selfishness and true cowardice. Resorting to the law, rather than a duel, to settle a grievance is only cowardly according to the arcane rules of Judge Driscoll's honor code. However, it would likely be universally agreed that a person who rather than facing up to his failures and paying off his own debts sells his own mother into slavery, and in doing so betrays her by sending her to the one place she dreads most (down the river), is truly a coward. Tom continues to show this cowardice, even after Roxy escapes from the plantation. After learning of the plantation's harsh conditions and the cruel treatment his mother suffered at the hands of the overseer and the master's wife, Tom's concern is not for Roxy's well being. Instead, he is concerned for his own hide, as he fears that the master will learn that the sale was a sham, leading to even deeper trouble for Tom. As such, Tom plans to return his mother into this terrible captivity. Moreover, we see that he takes Roxy's love for him for granted. When he first learns that Roxy has escaped, he tells himself that his mother loves him too much to return to St. Louis and risk getting him into deeper waters. It never occurs to Tom that after betraying Roxy and selling her down the river, her immediate concern may no longer be his welfare.
Summary and Analysis of Chapters 19 - 21
Summary Chapter 19 Rumors of an imminent duel between Judge Driscoll and Luigi continue to swirl around Dawson's Landing. Wilson carries Luigi's challenge to the Judge; however, Driscoll refuses to fight an assassin on the field of honor. Should the Judge run into him elsewhere, he will be ready. Thus, Wilson conveys to the twin that he must be prepared to kill the Judge upon seeing him, or else risk death himself. Tom has returned from St. Louis and sneaks into his uncle's house, prepared to carry out the planned robbery. He disguises himself in women's clothing and blackens his face with cork. Additionally, he carries along the Indian knife for protection. Tom's initial plan is to sneak into his uncle's bedroom and steal the key to the safe. However, he finds the Judge downstairs, asleep on the sofa. The old man's tin cashbox stands nearby, closed. Close to this is a pile of bank notes. As Tom seizes his prize, the Judge grabs him and starts calling for help. Tom plunges the knife into his uncle, and he is free. He flings the knife onto the ground and runs upstairs to his room, just as the twins are entering the house and standing over the body. By the time Tom escapes out the back, Mrs. Pratt, the servants, and various neighbors have joined the twins over the corpse. As Tom passes through the gate, three women rush by him. Tom is able to escape Dawson's Landing and travels to St. Louis. He learns in the following day's newspaper that Luigi has been arrested for his uncle's murder. The twin's grudge against the Judge, combined with his presence at the scene of the crime and his ownership of the murder weapon, have created a strong circumstantial case against him. Luigi is indicted for murder, while Angelo is indicted as an accessory. Wilson has agreed to defend the twins, and he focuses his efforts on matching the bloody fingerprint on the knife with one of the many prints he has collected from the town's women and girls. Wilson is convinced that the mysterious girl he had seen in Tom's room is behind the crime. Further, he refuses to suspect that Tom might be guilty, because: 1.) It was not in Tom to kill someone; 2.) even if it was, he would not turn his aggression to his uncle and benefactor; and 3.) it would be against Tom's own self-interest, because as long as the Judge was alive, Tom could rely on him for support and could try to win back the Judge's favor. If the Judge was dead, there was no way for Tom to get back into the torn up will. Though the will had in fact been revived, as far as Wilson knew, there was no way Tom could know that. Finally, Tom was in St. Louis when the murder occurred, and only learned about it when he read the newspaper. Chapter 20 The weeks drag by and the date for the twins' trial finally arrives. The State, with Pembroke Howard prosecuting, has a strong circumstantial case against Luigi and Angelo, and the convictions seem all but certain. When it comes time for Wilson to present the defense's case, he announces that he has only three witnesses - the Misses Clarkson - who will testify that they saw a veiled woman escaping the Judge's house through the back gate, a few minutes after Judge Driscoll's cries for help were heard. He states that this testimony, combined with other circumstantial evidence he will offer, will show that there is another person involved in this crime, who has not yet been found. Despite feeling secure that his deeds cannot be detected, the early part of the trial has made Tom feel somewhat uneasy. However, once he sees just how weak Wilson's case is, all feelings of concern melt away. In fact, Tom feels so confident that he has escaped all liability that he decides to stop by Pudd'nhead Wilson's house that night to tease him about it. He finds Wilson in his house, still pouring over his glass slides, trying to match the knife prints to the fingerprints of some town woman. Tom notices a slide with Roxy's name marked on it, and picks it up to take a better look. In doing so, he inadvertently leaves his own fingerprint on the glass. When Wilson sees the print, he immediately recognizes it as the print from the knife. He chastises himself for not considering that the mysterious girl might be a man disguised in girls' clothing. After Tom leaves, Wilson takes out and examines the various fingerprints he collected from Tom over the years. This leaves him perplexed, as Tom's baby prints do not match his later records. Wilson goes to bed still confused, but when he awakes from a dream, the puzzle is solved. Chapter 21 Wilson spends the next morning enlarging his fingerprint records for use in court. At trial, he electrifies the town with his shocking revelations. He begins by accepting and even endorsing the State's proposition that the bloody fingerprints on the knife's handle belong to the culprit. The courtroom audience is stunned to hear Wilson make such a concession. Pudd'nhead then proceeds to explain the science of fingerprinting to the court. He states that fingerprints provide a personal "autograph" that can consistently identify a person throughout his or her lifetime. To demonstrate the accuracy of this science, Wilson has a number of town citizens - including Angelo and Luigi - press their fingers to the window while he is not looking. He then correctly matches the prints to their respective owners. To assure the audience that this was not merely luck, Wilson performs the feat a second time. With the courtroom now hanging intently on his every word, Wilson uses his enlarged prints to prove that the bloody fingerprints on the murder weapon do not even resemble those of the twins. This earns Wilson a thunderous crash of applause. Finally, Wilson makes two revelations that shock the townspeople and bring about Tom's demise: he man the town has come to know as Tom Driscoll is in fact the slave Valet de Chambre, switched in infancy by his mother, and this false heir is guilty of murdering Judge Driscoll. Roxy throws herself to her knees and begs for mercy, while the usurper is taken in custody. Analysis Tom's true treachery and selfishness are revealed in these closing chapters. As we saw in the preceding chapters, Tom was willing to sell his own mother down the river to raise enough money to pay off his debts. Now, he is willing to steal from, and even kill, his benefactor, who took Tom in when his father died, treated Tom like his own son, and provided for Tom's every need. Moreover, after killing Judge Driscoll, Tom shows no remorse for what he has done, and is content allowing two innocent men go away for his crime. We also see here that the code of honor, which the citizens of Dawson's Landing consider so critically important, is somewhat arbitrary. The duel between Judge Driscoll and Luigi - in which either man easily could have been killed by the other - was not only tolerated, it was celebrated. The combatants emerged from the duel heroes. Similarly, it was widely recognized and accepted after Judge Driscoll's speech lambasting the twins that Luigi was looking to challenge the Judge to another duel, and that upon sight, either man might kill the other. Yet, despite the general acceptance of killing in the name of honor, Luigi and Angelo are charged with murder when the town suspects that they are guilty of Judge Driscoll's death. When the twins first arrived in Dawson's Landing, they were treated to a royal welcome and were the talk of the town. Their fame and reputation in the town were only magnified by Luigi's duel with Judge Driscoll. Yet, the town is quick to turn on the two Italians. Their standing in the community is first tarnished when Tom plants the seeds of doubt as to whether Luigi and Angelo ever possessed the Indian knife. By spreading the rumor that the Capello's offered reward is a hoax, Tom is able to paint the twins as dishonest charlatans. This attack on their reputation is compounded by Judge Driscoll's campaign to slander their good names and ensure their failure in the aldermanic election. When the two are suspected of murdering Dawson's Landing's leading citizen, the town's rejection of them is complete. Indeed, Aunt Patsy is the only person who comes to visit the twins while they are in jail awaiting trial. This fall from glory can be contrasted with Pudd'nhead Wilson's reputation. Upon first arriving, Wilson is ridiculed as a fool and isolated as an outsider. However, by the novel's end, he is a well-respected member of the community and is easily elected mayor. Ultimately it is Tom's own arrogance that brings about his downfall. When he sees the weakness of Wilson's case, he cannot help but taunt Pudd'nhead. Rather than just being grateful for his good fortune and letting Luigi and Angelo take the fall for his crime, Tom goes to Wilson's house to rub it in his face. In doing so, Tom inadvertently provides Wilson with the one clue he needs to solve the mystery - his fingerprint. As Tom has previously foreshadowed, his hand proved to be his deadliest enemy. In the end, when Wilson reveals Tom's true identity and names him as the murderer, Roxy appears to abandon her son. Falling to her knees, she begs for mercy for herself, but makes no plea for her child. Perhaps in betraying and selling her down the river, Tom has used up all of her maternal goodwill.
Summary and Analysis of Conclusion
Conclusion Summary Following the trial, Wilson is held in even higher esteem than he had been after serving as Luigi's second in the duel. No longer considered a fool, his words and sentences were now considered "golden" and he "was a made man for good." Having been cleared in the trial, Luigi and Angelo's reputations were restored and they were considered "heroes of romance." However, the Italian twins decided that they had had all they could handle of Western adventure, and thus leave the small town and settle in Europe. The true heir continues to pay Roxy a pension of thirty five dollars a month, but she is too heartbroken, and money proves no remedy. She lost "the spirit in her eye" and the "voice of her laughter," and only finds solace in her church. The true Thomas à Becket Driscoll now finds himself white, rich, and free. But his fate is not a happy one. Having grown up a slave, he is unable to read and write, and continues to speak with a slave dialect. Moreover, he has the manners of a slave, and is unable to feel at home in "the white man's parlour." He only feels comfortable in the slave gallery, but as a wealthy white citizen, that is no longer viable refuge for him. Finally, we learn that the usurper has made a full confession and has been sentenced to life imprisonment. However, a problem arises. The creditors of Percy Driscoll's estate come forward and claim they are the victims of an injustice. When Percy Driscoll died, the debts from his failed land speculations were so large, and his estate in such miserable condition, that obligations could only be repaid at a rate of sixty percent. However, the creditors point out that through no fault of their own, 'Tom' was not included in the inventory of property that was available to settle Percy's debt. Had he been, not only would they have received a larger payment, but 'Tom' would never have been able to kill Judge Driscoll. Thus, because he is not white, and because it would wasteful to "shut up a valuable slave for life," the creditors argue that 'Tom' is their property and should be released to them. As soon as the Governor of Missouri is informed of this case, he promptly pardons 'Tom' and he is sold down the river. Analysis Here, in this final section of the novel, Twain reveals the strongest support for "nurture" over "nature." Born wealthy, white, and free, and descended from the noble line of Virginia's First Families, the "nature" theory would suggest that the real Tom should be inherently comfortable in the white man's world. Upon receiving his fortune, he should have easily transitioned into his new lifestyle. However, as we see, this is simply not the case. Having been raised a slave, the true Tom knows no other way of life. His new surroundings and experiences are completely alien to him and he is unable to fit in. One might have suspected that being freed from his servitude and given riches would prove a happy experience for the real heir. But in reality, he would likely have been happier remaining a slave. Throughout the novel, the usurper "Tom" expressed the view that slaves and African Americans are not actual people, but rather are mere property. Ironically, it is precisely this view of blacks that results in the impostor being sold down the river. As Twain notes, had Tom been white, he likely would have remained in jail. Though this certainly would not have been an ideal fate, it would likely be more tolerable than the alternative harsh labor on a Southern cotton plantation. Because Percy Driscoll's creditors view "Tom" not as a person, but as chattel, he is removed from his prison and sold to the highest bidder.
ClassicNote on Pudd'nhead Wilson
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