"I am not an American, I am the American."3
Another brag by our favorite perfect man? Nope, not this time. Mark Twain actually wrote this about a friend of his, but we think it fits Twain's legacy to a T.
In a literary sense, Mark Twain was the American. More than any other writer, he understood the differences that divided America and the traits that drew it together. He knew the nation's particular sense of humor, and most importantly, he knew how to spin a real good yarn.
Raised on the banks of the Mississippi River, that great divide between East and West, Twain represented both the brash, pioneer spirit of the West and the more genteel traditions of the East. He dined with outlaws and presidents. His wit and witticisms defined the country's sense of humor. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been called the "Great American Novel" by Ernest Hemingway. When Twain died in 1910 he was one of the most famous men in the country, and there's nothing more American than fame.
Well...except for that one "proud to be an American" song.
Yeah, good luck getting that out of your head.
While we don't know Twain's thoughts on patriotic earworms, we do know that he lived for a good tall tale, a brazen exaggeration, and on occasion, an outright lie. But for all of their inventiveness, his parables cut right to the truth about human nature. Twain didn't see humans as black or white, devil or angel. He knew that we were flawed, selfish, lazy and self-deluding, but he also believed that "God puts something good and loveable in every man His hands create."4
Guess that explains Hitler's art career.
No one embodied the contradictions of human nature more than Twain himself, who once claimed he hadn't "a particle of confidence in a man who has no redeeming petty vices."5 He openly admitted to his fondness for drinking, smoking, cursing, and fibbing, yet friends described him as deeply committed to his family, especially his wife, who disdained drinking, smoking, cursing and fibbing. He was also dedicated to fulfilling his obligations, including the many financial debts he incurred in his life.
Debts, however, were the least of Twain's worries. Three of his four children died before he did, as did his beloved younger brother and his wife. These experiences explain the sometimes dark and bitter tone that runs through his works. As his biographer wrote, "the wonder is not that Mark Twain so often preached the doctrine of despair during his later life, but that he did not exemplify it—that he did not become a misanthrope in fact."6
We're impressed. We get misanthropic if someone eats with their mouth open, or tries to make small talk, or tries to make small talk whilst eating with their mouth open, or literally breathes near us...
...Huh. Yeah, that might be something we need to work through.