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.