The Autobiography of Mark Twain · Chapter
Friday, March 16, 1906 explained
Mark Twain reflects on his childhood in Hannibal, recalling schoolmates, first loves, Sunday school with Mr.
What happens
Mark Twain reflects on his childhood in Hannibal, recalling schoolmates, first loves, Sunday school with Mr. Richmond, and the gold fever of 1849. He recounts the story of Reuel Gridley and the famous flour sack auction for the Sanitary Fund, and describes the measles epidemic of 1845 when he deliberately tried to catch the disease from Will Bowen.
Themes in this chapter
Memory and Autobiography
Twain vividly recalls schoolmates, first loves, and childhood adventures from sixty years prior.
Mortality and Loss
Reflections on the deaths of Hickman, Reuel Gridley, Will Bowen, and others, with Susy's poignant question.
The American Experience
Gold fever, the Mexican War, and the Sanitary Fund auction illustrate 19th-century American life.
Characters to notice
- Mark Twain
Narrates memories of his Hannibal childhood, schoolmates, and the measles epidemic.
- Jane Lampton Clemens
Mentioned as worrying over her children during the measles epidemic.
- Will Bowen
Special mate of Twain's; Twain deliberately visited him to catch measles.
- Reuel Gridley
Schoolmate who later became famous for the flour sack auction benefiting the Sanitary Fund.
- Susy Clemens
Quoted by Twain: 'What is it all for?' in reference to death.
Key passages
“I always recited the same five verses every Sunday. He was always satisfied with the performance. He never seemed to notice that these were the same five foolish virgins that he had been hearing about every Sunday for months.”
Twain repeated the same Bible verses each week, and his teacher never caught on.
Shows Twain's childhood mischief and the leniency of his Sunday school teacher.
“Why, that cave hollow and all the adjacent hills were made of gold!—but we did not know it. We took it for dirt.”
The boys unknowingly played on land that later became a valuable cement mine.
Illustrates Twain's ironic reflection on missed opportunities.
“I saw the splendid Hickman in his old age. He seemed about the oldest man I had ever seen—an amazing and melancholy contrast with the showy young captain I had seen preparing his warriors for carnage so many, many years before.”
Twain contrasts Hickman's youthful vigor with his frail old age.
Highlights the theme of mortality and the passage of time.
“First and last, the sack of flour which had originally cost five dollars, perhaps, netted more than two hundred thousand dollars for the Sanitary Fund.”
Gridley's flour sack raised over $200,000 for the Sanitary Fund through repeated auctions.
Recounts a remarkable fundraising effort during the Civil War.