RE:    David DePauw's post

Twain's own account of his efforts with _PW_ both affirms one aspect
of your point and denies the bulk of it.   That is, he did not
deliberately set out to create an interpretive labyrinth; he simply
set out to "tell a story, a very little story."    But he soon
discovered that the story became a labyrinth all on its own.    From
our contemporary perspective, the idea of a story or its characters
wresting control from the author is dubious.    So, ruling out the
deliberate authorial act, we have a more complex explanation of the
unconscious act.    The interpretive labyrinth that emerges from _PW_
and its precursor "Those Extraordinary Twins" can't so easily be waved
away with simplistic appeals to beauty, enjoyment, and economics.
Come to think of it, even those three--when taken critically--are
fairly complex all on their own.

--Larry Howe

-----Original Message-----
From: David L. DePauw <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, February 14, 2000 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: Pudd'nhead? President?


>Please understand from at least one Mark Twain fan, that I think so
many of
>the people who responded to your message missed one very important
>thing....Mister Clemens was writing to entertain those who read
>him....perhaps with subtle messages entertwined, but I do not believe
he ever
>intended to deliberately create the labrythinian and grossly
convoluted
>interpretations that so many of your respondents claim to have
discovered in
>his writings.....the man wrote because he enjoyed it, because it gave
other's
>enjoyment, and because it gave him a way of making a living.  Period.
>    Twain himself once observed when reflecting upon the rainbow,
that we
>have not the reverence for it that the savage had...for we understand
it, and
>have therefore lost more than we've gained in the bargain.  Be wary
of those
>who would dissect something that is beautiful in an attempt to
understand
>it's inner workings.  Often, it's beautiful just ....because it's
beautiful.
>    That's Twain.