Mark Twain Biography

Mark Twain is a famous novelist, socialist and adventurer. The full name of the writer is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he used the pen name Mark Twain to write his stories. Some of the most famous works of Twain include 'Adventures of Tom Sawyer' and 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.’ These novels are now considered American classics. Twain is designated as “Father of American Literature.” According to many literature experts, he is considered among the greatest humorists of American literature. Although he is famously known for his writings, many of the Mark Twain short biographies mentions him as a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and inventor. 

Mark Twain Life and Works

The Early Life of Mark Twain

Twain was born in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. He was given the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens at the time of birth. He was born into a family of six siblings, his parents were named John and Jane Clemens. He moved shortly after the birth to the town of nearby Hannibal, which is a bustling river town of 1,000 people. An interesting fact related to his birth was the citation of Halley's comet, according to Samuel Clemens biography he often refers to the comet as an event that will mark his death, he predicted that he would "go out with it."

His father, John worked as a storekeeper and he also sometimes worked as a land speculator. He was not very financially stable and the family struggled to meet their ends. John and Jane had 6 children out of them Twain was the youngest. Twain lost three of his siblings during his childhood, Orion, Henry, and Pamela were among his surviving siblings. Orion later became the governor of the town. 

At the age of 4, they moved to Hannibal where they lived for the longest time. His father died at the age of 11 in the town, he was diagnosed with pneumonia which ultimately led to his demise. Soon after the death of his father, Twain left the school and joined to become a painter’s apprentice. In 1851, he began working as a typesetter in his brother’s local publishing house called Hannibal journal. He was mainly focused on writing humorous sketches. When he was 18 he moved to New York City where he worked as a printer. He also became a member of the  International Typographical Union, the trade union of printers. It was in New York that Twain restarted his studies, he did not join a conventional school he rather went up to public libraries and studied various subjects. He found this more interesting and useful than the conventional methods used for teaching in schools.

Twain as a Steamboat Pilot

Steamboats were among one of the most fascinating things that intrigued Twain during his childhood, due to the financial conditions of his family Twain did not have a chance to own a steamboat till his adulthood. It was around 1857 when he was 21 years old he started out learning to drive a steamboat on the Mississippi River. He became a  licensed steamboat pilot by 1859. Soon after completing his lessons, he procured a regular job plying the shoals and channels of the great river. It was considered a high-status job and was also paying him handsomely to meet his necessities. The career soon came to a halt when the civil war broke out in America, due to this there was low traffic of civilians. With the onset of civil war in 1861, the career of steamboating came to an end for Twain. An intriguing fact mentioned in Mark Twain biography book is that he gained his pen name during his term as a steamboat pilot. The name was slang used to refer to the measured river depth of two fathoms which is about 12 feet, which was safe water for a steamboat.

With the outbreak of civil war people divided into two groups: the Union and the Confederate states. Twain joined the Confederate army and served about 2 weeks in the army until his volunteer unit got disbanded.  

Mark Twain’s Journey to the American West

After the loss at the steamboat business, Mark Twain moved to  Nevada Territory in 1861 where his brother Orion was a governor. He lived in the west for about 5 years before travelling abroad. He initially acquired a job as a miner on the Comstock Lode, he was not very successful even at the job of mining. He then soon quit the job and took a post as a writer in the Virginia City newspaper Territorial Enterprise, he worked under his friend named  Dan DeQuille. According to Samuel Clemens biography, it was here in this job that he first wrote an article under the pen name of Mark Twain.

In 1864, Twain moved to California, still working as a writer. In California he met writers like  Bret Harte and Artemus Ward. he gained much popularity in the west through his unique style of writing. His writing style is described in Mark Twain biography book as humorous, satirical, friendly, funny, and irreverent. 

Twain got his break in 1865 from a story that was inspired by the life of miners. The story was named "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog,"  which was printed in newspapers and magazines around the country. It was among one of the earliest works of the writer that gave him mass scale recognition. 

Twain’s Journey Abroad

Almost every Mark Twain short biography mentions the role and the impact of his journeys and his writing style. Twain embarked on the journey of a five-month sea cruise in the Mediterranean, in 1867. During this time he wrote mostly about the plight of American society and journalism in particular. Even in Mark Twain autobiography, the main purpose of the journey was to have an undivided focus towards writing his book. Not too much surprise two years after the trip, he published his best-seller book. The book was titled “innocents abroad.” The book was very well commercially received, it also had good reviews from fellow writers. He was around 34 when the book was published and gained nationwide popularity.

Writings of Mark Twain

Mark Twain is among the most notable and prominent writers of English literature. He was known for his humour and satire in his writings, most of the work of this famous author had an impact or shadow of his early childhood. The writings of Twain are themed around the atrocities and problems faced in poverty. Although he discussed these issues in his writings whether in novels or in the articles he wrote for the newspaper and magazine, he always incorporated humour in his writings. The characters of his writing are often influenced by the normal people that he had known, he is known to create a satirical character with an edge. 

The writings of Mark were liked and reviewed by many English authors as well. The short stories written by Mark brought international attention and were even translated into different languages including French. In prose and speech, his wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. A very interesting fact about his life and his influence on American society was his friendship with the president of the United States of America, Ulysses S. Grant. It is an evident fact mentioned in Samuel Langhorne Clemens biography that he helped to complete the autobiography of Grant. Grant's biography was proofread by Twain. The impact of proofreading Grant biography by Twain is immensely studied and depicted in a book called Grant and Twain: The Story of a Friendship That Changed America, which was written by Mark Perry.

Another scholar Hamlin Hill, who worked on the Mark Twain brief biography mentioned the feeling of inferiority and aggressiveness in Mark, this was also prominent in his writings, this was due to his fervent wish to climb up the social ladder and become rich. Although the writings of Twain always had humour and satire they were known for the combination of rich humour, sturdy narrative, and social criticism. Another important point about Twain’s writing was his command over a colloquial speech which helped to create and popularize distinctive American literature built on American themes and language. 

Nonetheless, his writing was considered very controversial. One of his famous novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been repeatedly restricted in American high schools. Some of the other prominent works of the author include  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper and A Tramp Abroad. He also dictated his autobiography. Mark Twain's autobiography was published in 2010 nearly 100 years after his death. The name of Mark Twain autobiography is 'The Autobiography Of Mark Twain': Satire To Spare.

Mark Twain Family

Twain married Olivia Langdon in February 1870. Olivia belonged to an upper-class eastern society of New York. they had 4 children together. Clemens settled in Buffalo, New York, from 1869 to 1871. There first child Langdon died when he was a toddler due to diphtheria in 1896; then his favourite daughter Susy, died at the age of 24 of spinal meningitis. Their youngest daughter Jean was diagnosed with severe epilepsy. In 1909, she died due to a heart attack she was 29 at the time. The relationship between Twain and his middle daughter Clara was not very good, according to mark twain autobiography they were distant from each other. Olivia died in June 1904. After the death of his wife, Twain was documented to be aggressive and suffered from depressive episodes, he died at the age of 74 on April 21, 1910. All of the Clemens family are buried in Elmira's Woodlawn Cemetery.