Who was Mark Twain and how did he use satire in his works?
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Mark Twain
November 30th, 1835 - April 21st, 1910
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, as known as Mark Twain, was born in a small town of Florida. He was the was the sixth child of John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens. Twain became an American literary icon and is best known for his classic works like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Great American Novel. In 1861, Clemens began working as a newspaper reporter. In 1870, Clemens married Olivia Langdon, and had four children. Twain began to gain fame when his story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County appeared in the New York newspaper. Many of his other books were published shortly after.
Twain and Satire
"Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [and other humorous works] uses satire, which is a literary manner of denouncing, criticising and laughing at the foibles, crimes or vices of a person or society, with the aim of correcting them. Usually, humour plays a great role and makes people laugh, which makes it easier for satire to reach its targets. The definition exactly applies to Huck Finn, for it attacked the vices of the 19th Century American society, with the intention of correcting them. His satire[(s)] [were] so severe toward society that the latter considered it to be outrageous, rough, coarse, immoral and inelegant. This proves how deeply Huck Finn had reached its targets, namely corrupt society and institutions." - Olivier Nyirubugara,
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