The Autobiography of Mark Twain · Chapter
New York, Friday, February 9, 1906 explained
Twain recounts Susy's youthful biography of him, including her praise for 'The Prince and the Pauper' and her description of his appearance.
What happens
Twain recounts Susy's youthful biography of him, including her praise for 'The Prince and the Pauper' and her description of his appearance. He then tells a humorous story about being caught using strong language by his wife Livy, after a bathroom incident involving missing shirt buttons. The chapter also touches on his mother's interest in ancestry and his own indifference to birth-based grandeur.
Themes in this chapter
Family and Domestic Life
The chapter centers on family interactions: Susy's biography, the editing process with Livy and children, and the humorous bathroom incident.
Memory and Autobiography
Twain dictates from memory, quoting Susy's childhood writings and recalling past events with vivid detail.
Hypocrisy and Human Nature
Twain's secret use of strong language and his efforts to hide it from his family, contrasted with his public persona.
Characters to notice
- Mark Twain
Dictates the chapter, reflecting on Susy's biography, his editing habits, and the bathroom language incident.
- Susy Clemens
Her biography of Twain is quoted, praising 'The Prince and the Pauper' and describing his appearance.
- Livy Clemens
Twain's wife who catches him using strong language and humorously repeats his words back to him.
- Clara Clemens
Present at breakfast, aged six, when the children reveal they know about Twain's strong language.
- Jane Lampton Clemens
Twain's mother, noted for her interest in ancestry and the Clemens family history.
Key passages
“The passages which were so satisfactory to them always had an element of strength in them which sorely needed modification or expurgation, and was always sure to get it at their mother’s hand.”
The children's favorite passages were the ones their mother would edit out, as they contained strong language that needed softening.
Twain describes the family's collaborative editing process, with Livy as the censor.
“I prized my wife’s respect and approval above all the rest of the human race’s respect and approval.”
Twain valued his wife's good opinion more than anyone else's.
Reflects Twain's deep regard for Livy and his fear of disappointing her.
“I was too angry—too insane—to examine the third shirt, but put it furiously on. Again the button was absent, and that shirt followed its comrades out of the window.”
In a rage, Twain threw three shirts out the window, each missing a button.
Comedic buildup to the moment Livy catches him using strong language.