Tuesday, April 10, 1906 explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Hypocrisy and Human Nature

  Twain highlights the irony of the Concord Library's censorship and the greed of Cornell University's lawyers in challenging Fiske's inheritance.

• Character and Morality

  Fiske's refusal to marry for money and his principled stance against accepting the full fortune illustrate moral integrity, while the university's legal maneuvering shows moral compromise.

• Social Class and Inequality

  The story of young Bacon's rise from poverty through Twain's employment scheme and Fiske's concern about appearing to marry for money reflect class dynamics.

Characters to notice

• Mark Twain

  Narrator and central figure; reflects on letters about Huck Finn, reads White's autobiography, and recounts the Fiske-Cornell lawsuit and his employment scheme.

• Willard Fiske

  Professor and central figure in the Fiske-Cornell episode; married Miss McGraw, resisted accepting her fortune, and later sued Cornell over the will.

• Charles Dudley Warner

  Accompanied Fiske and Miss McGraw on a Nile trip; helped persuade Fiske to accept a modified inheritance and drew up Mrs. Fiske's will.

• Livy Clemens

  Mentioned as part of the family visiting Elmira and Quarry Farm.

• F. G. Whitmore

  Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

• James W. Paige

  Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

Key passages

• “When Huck Finn was flung out of the Concord Public Library twenty-one years ago, a number of letters of sympathy and indignation reached me—mainly from children, I am obliged to admit—and I kept some of them so that I might reread them now and then and apply them as a salve to my soreness.”

  Twenty-one years ago, after Huck Finn was banned from the Concord Library, Twain received many sympathetic letters, mostly from children, which he saved to comfort himself.

  Twain reflects on the public reaction to the banning of his book.

• “I have been reading another chapter or two in Ambassador White’s autobiography, and I find the book charming, particularly where he talks about me. I find any book charming that talks about me.”

  Twain enjoys reading Ambassador White's autobiography, especially the parts that mention him, and admits he likes any book that discusses himself.

  Twain humorously acknowledges his self-interest in reading about himself.

• “Fiske had a quite definite reason for not proposing. It was that he was very poor and the girl very rich, and he was not willing to seem to marry her for her money. This was good morals, good principle, good sentiment—but it was not business.”

  Fiske refused to propose to Miss McGraw because he was poor and she was rich, not wanting to appear mercenary—a morally admirable but impractical stance.

  Twain comments on Fiske's principled but unwise decision.