Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- How important is it that the Yankee comes from the late 19th century? Would someone from our time do as well as Hank does? How about someone from the 18th century? Why or why not?
- How would the book read differently if it were told from the point of view of Clarence or King Arthur instead of Hank?
- Was Twain flat-out making fun of Arthurian stories, or was he trying to put his own spin on the genre?
- What, specifically, does Twain not like about the old Arthurian stories? How does he satirize that here?
- In his own time, Hank worked in a munitions plant and a lot of his victories in Arthurian times come about because of guns he builds. Was Twain trying to comment on war or the military in his own time? What do you think he was trying to say?
- Twain often comments on the evils of his own time and the recent past in this book. How does setting it in the ancient world help him make his points?
- If Hank had stayed in the past, how would history have changed? Would that make the world a better place? If so, how?
- Why doesn't the book have a happy ending? Why does Twain decide to separate Hank from his wife and everyone he loves at the end?