Mark Twain's Path Of Life

Mark Twain was one of thoses loud, grumpy old grandpas that can be a bit rude at times. He always wore a white suit which was the attitude he took on life. He named this suit “dontcarea***”. He was born in Florida, Mississippi and was best known for his famous novels, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry finn. He was a true atheist, but a bad businessman. Though through his faults he was a master of creating American literature that was based around American traditions and themes. He was truly the one who set the bar for great American literature.

Mark was born in Florida, Mississippi. His dad, whose name was John Marshall Clemens, worked as a country merchant in Tennessee. His Mother, Jane Lampton Clemens took care of all their seven kids. When Mark was young he was called a ginger because of his ginger colored hair.

Mark’s dad died when he was only 11 so Mark had to quit his school to support the rest of his family. Mark was one of seven siblings but sadly, half of his siblings died very young. Only his younger brother Henry, older brother Orion, and his younger sister Pamela survived.

Nevertheless he grew up and became both an apprentice printer and a steamboatman. He didn’t like these jobs so he decided to become a critic and a novelist though he had a few fails with a pen name until he finally settled on Mark Twain.

Mark’s real name is Samuel Clemens but he was best known by his pen name Mark twain. He struggled through life without a father since he was 11 years old. Neither was he properly educated though he took it seriously and went to the library often.

When he was just 18 he married a woman called Olivia Langdon Clements. He was married to her for 34 year and they had three children which they named Clara, Jean, and Susy. This was when he became an apprentice printer and worked for Hannibal Journal which meant he got to travel around to all the big cities at that time.

After that he became a pilot for a steamboat. He piloted his own boats for two years until the civil war which stopped his business. His time as a pilot led him to choose the name “Mark Twain” which meant that the water was two fathoms or 6 feet deep. This was the minimum depth for safe navigation.

He went to Nevada and became a miner with his brother Orion. He didn’t fancy it and left because of his lack of success. This was where he got the idea for his first big hit short story, “the Celebrated Jumping frog of Calaveras County” which he heard at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California.

In total he wrote 28 stories and many short stories. His first short story was published in 1865 and was called “the Celebrated Jumping frog of Calaveras County” which was his first big hit. His first novel was published in 1869 and was called “The Innocents Abroad”.

This was another big hit and the book was Twain’s most popular work during his life though after his death, he became more famous for his books, Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its follow up, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and which Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was called “the first great American novel”.

Mark was devastated by the death of his younger brother Henry which he blamed himself for. He had convinced Henry to go get a job on a vessel. The ship’s boiler blew up in the nineteen-year-old Henry was no more. He was haunted by this until his death.

Then after that he also made some bad investments which made him lose quite a bit of money. He denied investing in the telephone from Alexander Graham Bell which he could have earned a lot of money from. Next he bought a super expensive typewriter which cost around 200,000 back then. In today’s money it is about four million dollars.

Later when president Ulysses S. Grant died, and Mark wrote his autobiography which he published in 1885. They sold about 350,000 autobiographies. This saved Mark financially and he was set for the rest of his life.

Mark was also a very very very crazily enthusiastic cat lover. At one time he had nineteen cats! and he always wanted them to be around him. He even loved them more than some people in his life. His family was a rich and well known one and they met many famous people. Their family was a broad-based family and Mark put in his views into his many books and short stories.

Mark Twain was born 2 weeks after Halley’s Comet was closest to the sun on November 30, 1835. He died on April 21, 1910, one day after the Halley’s Comet was closest to earth.

He even said ‘I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t go out with Halley’s Comet.’ He died from a heart attack but his death didn’t really impact his fame because he was already very famous.

His most famous book, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has sold more than 200,000 copies each year and has been translated into more than 75 different languages and has been made into at least seven hundred editions that have been published world wide. This means that Mark Twain’s book makes around one million, five hundred thousand us dollars every year.

Mark has left a mark (no pun intended) of his funny deceptive style that has influenced many writers and will keep on influencing them for a very long time. His books are told from a child’s point of view and are fun and enjoyable for young and old alike. His books are well loved by thousands of people around the world and are even read in schools to be written essays upon.

I have read 2 of his books so far and I, as have many others, felt that this book was pretty good. That is why I think Mark Twain was a master of creating American literature that was based around American traditions and themes. He is truly the one who set the bar for great American literature.