Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain

Zachary Cormier

Mr. Coady

English II

7 March 2016

HOLDER TITLE: CHANGE ASAP

“Pudd’nhead Wilson” by Mark Twain is an extremely versatile novel. It is classified not only as a detective story, but a comedy, a satire, but most importantly, and significantly, a tragedy. The only problem with labeling it as such is that it is not just one character’s downfall, but many. In the book, the extremely diverse cast all experiences a rise and fall. Valet de Chambers, or “Tom Driscoll”, a legally black man, is one of the most powerful people in all of Dawson’s Landing, due to his mother switching him at birth with the real Tom Driscoll, the son of the wealthy Percy Driscoll. “Tom” ends up having a complete change of fortune, being accused and charged with murder, and eventually being sold down the river. Roxy’s intentions were benevolent. She wished to see a legally black man in a position of power. Even though Chambers is 1/32 black, he would be subjected to the hard life of slavery, and the potential to be sold down the river. Roxy’s goal was to prevent and switch Chambers and Tom at birth. She got away with it, and later in the story, escaped slavery. Eventually, she subjects herself to slavery once again, to help “Tom” pay off his gambling debts. Little did she know, she was not sold to the slaveholder in Kentucky like she expected, but was sold down the river to Arkansas. After the trial of “Tom”, Roxy’s overall plan fails, and she has to see her child go through one of the worst experiences that could happen to someone. Luigi and Angelo are twins from Italy, who come from a life of performance and slavery. They come to Dawson’s Landing, and immediately receive fame, do to their exotic nature. They have one of the worst turns of luck near the end of the book. They were falsely accused of the murder of Judge Driscoll, due to the evidence of them being the only ones present when the first responder showed up on the scene. They, like the real Tom, eventually get their reputation restored at the end of the book. Though many of the characters in the book have a personal rise and fall, Jerry B. Hogan’s work ““Pudd’nhead Wilson”: Whose Tragedy Is It?” illuminates that the actual tragedy of David “Pudd’nhead” Wilson, along with the whole town of Dawson’s Landing.

        In the article, Hogan realizes that there are many literal rises and falls of the social and physical wellbeing of the characters, but feels that the real downfall is not the physical wellbeing of Wilson, but his own morals. He describes this as “...not his ostracism from society but that in order for him to be a success, a hero even, he has to expose the whole rotten Tom Driscoll affair and his success in doing so permanently blinds him to the utter failure of society he had so longingly waited to joined and so fervently wished would accept him…” (Hogan 11). He describes that it doesn’t just encompass just Wilson, but more the whole city of Dawson’s Landing. The town is presented the ability to change their small, strongly held values, but they decide to discard them, in order to keep their tradition. The reader feels that justice is served by the end, where Tom is sold down the river for his crimes, Roxy has been shamed for her actions of switching the children, Chambers was restored to his rightful position of the heir of Judge and Percy Driscoll, and Pudd’nhead Wilson ended up being the most popular and successful man in the whole town. Yet, when looking at the whole ending objectively, one can see that the citizens of the town had the chance to change the traditions that defined the town. They could have saved “Tom” from being sold into slavery, and ultimately being sold down the river.

More importantly, Hogan realizes that the tragedy is much larger than just one character’s experiences, or even the towns. The tragedy is applied to the American culture of the antebellum era, along with the nation as a whole. The book is a negative look at humanity, evident in the aphorisms, which were notably cynical and dark. Hogan says “With its essentially negative view of human capabilities and basically bitter vision of communal potentialities, Twain’s book becomes a type of, if not the, horrifying vision of our national dreams gone astray that we have labeled the “American Tragedy”” (Hogan 12). The quote is elaborated on, saying that perhaps the most tragic part of the book is the fact that Twain, so early in American history, is able to recognize the unintentional malevolent idiosyncrasies that America exudes. In the conclusion, Twain writes, “October 12, the Discovery. It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.” (Twain 121). This aphorism recognizes that America has done, and will continue to do great in the world, but the harm that it has caused to cultures and the ignorance that it portrays outweighs everything good that has happened.