# XV explained — Roughing It

> Chapter companion for Roughing It by Mark Twain.

## What happens

The narrator recounts a night spent in Salt Lake City among Gentiles, listening to thrilling and gruesome tales of violence against non-Mormons, including stories about Burton, Bill Hickman, and Porter Rockwell. The conversation then turns to polygamy, with a Gentile named Johnson offering a highly embellished and comedic account of Brigham Young's domestic life, including the chaos of managing dozens of wives and children, the demand for breastpins, and the absurdities of a large plural marriage household.

## Themes in this chapter

### Humor and Exaggeration

Johnson's account of Brigham Young's domestic life is a prime example of Twain's use of tall-tale humor and hyperbole to satirize polygamy.

### Violence and Desperadoism

The opening tales of assassinations and killings by Destroying Angels highlight the violent reputation of Mormon enforcers in the region.

### The Absurdity of Pretension

The absurdity of Brigham Young's situation—managing dozens of wives and children—is used to mock the pretensions of polygamous authority.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

The narrator is the listener and observer, recounting the evening's tales and Johnson's stories.

### Brigham Young

Brigham Young is the central figure in Johnson's stories, depicted as overwhelmed by his many wives and children.

### Baldy Johnson

Johnson is the Gentile who tells the exaggerated and humorous stories about Brigham Young's household.

## Key lines

> It is a luscious country for thrilling evening stories about assassinations of intractable Gentiles.

The region is rich with exciting tales of killing non-Mormons who resist.

_Sets the tone for the violent stories that follow._

> And how the pert young thing of eleven will chance to be the favorite wife and her own venerable grandmother have to rank away down toward D 4 in their mutual husband’s esteem, and have to sleep in the kitchen, as like as not.

A young girl of eleven might become the favorite wife while her grandmother is treated as lowly and made to sleep in the kitchen.

_Highlights the absurd and degrading hierarchy within polygamous families._

> I thought I would know the little cub again but I don’t.

I thought I would recognize that child again, but I can't.

_Brigham Young's humorous inability to identify his own child among many._

> Ten or eleven wives is all you need⁠—never go over it.

You only need ten or eleven wives—never have more than that.

_The punchline of Johnson's story, satirizing the excesses of polygamy._

## Links

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