# XIX explained — Roughing It

> Chapter companion for Roughing It by Mark Twain.

## What happens

The narrator describes his encounter with the Goshoot Indians in Rocky Canyon, portraying them as the most degraded people he has ever seen, comparing them unfavorably to other tribes and even to African Bushmen. He recounts a harrowing attack on a stagecoach in which a District Judge and a mortally wounded driver fend off the attackers, leading the narrator to reconsider his romanticized view of Native Americans.

## Themes in this chapter

### Colonialism and Cultural Change

The narrator's derogatory depiction of the Goshoot Indians reflects colonial attitudes and the dehumanization of indigenous peoples.

### Humor and Exaggeration

Twain uses hyperbolic comparisons (e.g., linking Goshoots to gorillas and Norway rats) and satirical asides about the Baltimore and Washington Railroad to mock both the Indians and romanticized portrayals of Native Americans.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Describes the Goshoot Indians and recounts the stagecoach attack, reflecting on his disillusionment with the romanticized 'Red Man'.

### Judge Mott

District Judge of Nevada Territory who bravely takes the reins after the driver is wounded during a Goshoot attack.

## Key lines

> The disgust which the Goshoots gave me, a disciple of Cooper and a worshipper of the Red Man—even of the scholarly savages in the 'Last of the Mohicans' ... set me to examining authorities, to see if perchance I had been overestimating the Red Man while viewing him through the mellow moonshine of romance.

My revulsion at the Goshoots made me question my romanticized view of Native Americans, which I had absorbed from James Fenimore Cooper's novels.

_Twain critiques the literary idealization of Native Americans, contrasting it with the harsh reality he witnessed._

> The Judge distanced the enemy and at last rattled up to the station and knew that the night's perils were done; but there was no comrade-in-arms for him to rejoice with, for the soldierly driver was dead.

Judge Mott escaped the attack and reached the station safely, but the driver died from his wounds, leaving the judge without a companion to share his relief.

_Highlights the bravery and sacrifice of the stagecoach driver during the Goshoot attack._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/roughing_it_se/chapters/xix
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/roughing_it_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/roughing_it_se/chapters