Pudd'nhead Wilson

Summarize the twins upbringing. What similarities do they share with "Tom" and "Chambers"?

chapter 6

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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.

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