Blog#2 Mark Twain

Hello everyone! This is Chiaki Tochihara.

Today I would like to introduce to you about one of my favorite novelists: Mark Twain. I am interested in his novels and his life.

Do you know novels ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ and ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’? These were written by him and these stories are interesting and we can learn about America in the 1830s and in the 1840s, especially about racial discrimination. I’m interested in racial discrimination so I want you to read these novels!
Mark Twain is a pen name and his real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was born in Missouri and he led his life in Hannibal which is hardly larger than a village. In his childhood, he was interested in a river which lies from North to South near the Gulf of Mexico and he loved to see the river and a steamship sailing on the river, and every boy was eager to ride on a steamship which is a floating castle, and so did he. After many years, he worked on a ship and was a pilot of the ship and actually he was cheerful and energetic so everyone liked him. In spite of difficulties, he could have enjoyed his time on a ship. After that he turned to newspaper work, but he had still loved the river and loved a river forever. His pen name came from a river term that meant important for a pilot, ‘ by the mark, twain’ (水深二尋) which is a limit shallow for a steamship to be able to sail without aground. It is very interesting story, isn’t it? When I read his novel for the first time, I couldn’t expect it from his story. Everything about him is fascinating.

Furthermore, do you know Mark Twain Steamboat? It is an attraction we can enjoy at the Tokyo Disneyland. Actually Walt Disney loved to read ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and Tom Sawyer Island which located in Westernland at Tokyo Disneyland was derived from this novel. Mark Twain Steamboat which was derived frim Mark Twain sails on an American river which lies around Tom Sawyer Island.

This attraction isn’t popular but I like it because when I ride on this steamboat, I can feel an atmosphere of America in the 1830s as Mark Twain felt. I recommend to you to read Mark Twain’s novel and to try to ride on this steamboat.