Andrew Jackson Jim Smiley’s bull-pup, Andrew Jackson, was used by Jim in various bets. The dog is described as a good dog that does not look like much, and other dogs often seemed to get the better of him in fights. The narrator notes, however, that Andrew Jackson never seemed to be bothered by these…
Tag: Mark Twain
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County – Summary
“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” has an “as-told-to” framework. A talkative man named Simon Wheeler relates to Mark Twain (the narrator) the story of a gambler named Jim Smiley and the amazing animals Smiley used in his schemes. Twain has gone to see Wheeler at the urging of a friend back East who…
Rudyard Kipling’s “The White Man’s Burden”: Clarifying the relationship between oppressors and the oppressed
Even after a hundred years since its publication, Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘The White Man’s Burden’ continues to be debated, discussed and reinterpreted in various ways. When we look at the context in which the poem was written and published (originally written for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations), it becomes clear that Kipling is promoting the…
Should the word ‘Negro’ be removed from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain toward late nineteenth century is a vital contribution to the American literary scene. Criticized from various quarters for its overtly racist tone, the book, if anything, stands against racism and slavery. The rest of the essay will argue that there is no need for censoring or…