![]() ![]() The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County In spite of their faults, Twain’s stories captivate the reader with their irresistible humor, their unique style, and their spirited characters who transfigure the humdrum with striking perceptions. Except when adapting a plot taken from oral tradition, Twain does better with patently artificial situations, which his genius for suggesting authentic speech makes plausible enough. Therefore, they too seldom interact effectively. Rather, just as Twain alternated between polarities of attitude, his characters tend to embody some extreme unitary state either of villainy or (especially with young women) of unshakable virtue. Although deeply divided himself, Twain seldom created introspectively complex characters or narrators who are unreliable in the Conradian manner. ![]() ![]() His best stories are narrated by first-person speakers who are seemingly artless, often so convincingly that critics cannot agree concerning the extent to which their ingenuousness is the result of Twain’s self-conscious craft. Many readers find Mark Twain (Novem– April 21, 1910) most successful in briefer works, including his narratives, because they were not padded to fit some extraneous standard of length. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |