Twain's view of society: is the irony always ironic? -- Northwest Nerds Bookclub

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Date Posted: 09:26:33 05/12/00 Fri
Author: Chris
Subject: Twain's view of society: is the irony always ironic?

Having read through 200-some pages of this book, I'm not always sure what I think about Twain. Although he obviously is against the way the indigenous people of Australia have been treated, I think his perspective is a step away from my bleeding heart mentality. From my very loose reading, he appears to concede that people will conquer people. On page 211 in my text he says, "The white man's spirit was right, but his method was wrong."

Now, that can be taken out of context, because he follows that up with "His spirit was the spirit which the civilized white has always exhibited toward the savage, but the use of poison was a departure from custom. . . It was better, kinder, swifter and much more humane than a number of the methods which have been sanctified by custom." For me, I'm not sure where the irony stops and his true voice sets in. Naturally, we'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but has anyone of you all read enough of or about Twain to know where he really stands on race, class, etc.?

My

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Re: Twain's view of society: is the irony always ironic? -- Marla, 07:41:22 05/15/00 Mon