Mark Twain – "Two Views of the River"

This work is very different than the last work of Mark Twain's that was analyzed. This work is more serious, and instead of necessarily telling a story, it shows that too much of a good thing can be bad (Twain). This work talks about Mark Twain's years as a steamboater (Twain). It talks about how in the beginning, he marveled at the beauty of the river and the sunsets that reflected off of it, but he soon lost the newness of it all (Twain). He said that after he had learned his trade of boating well, he lost all concept of the beauty of the river (Twain). He then began to notice the same things, but he realized the meaning for the boat that came from those things (Twain). He realized that some meant that the river was getting shallower, others meant that one well-known landmark would soon be gone because the tree would die, and yet others meant different things about the current (Twain). These things could all hurt the ship, and since that was what he had been trained to notice, that is what he began to see (Twain). He lamented over this and realized what a shame it was, but he also knew that there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it (Twain). It made him yearn for the times where he could just look at the river and marvel in its wonder and beauty instead of looking for the things that could be harmful (Twain). This work is Realist, because it shows what he is thinking of in the moment (Twain). It shows his feelings and it is definitely a realistic situation that he was in (Twain). This work could be a little bit Naturalistic, because of the way that he describes the river in the end (Twain). He is more analytical at that point, like scientists are, and it makes the work lean toward the Naturalistic end (Twain). This work is not Regionalistic (Twain). While it talks quite a bit of nature, it does not try to promote a certain region or put down a certian region (Twain). He is more describing the landscape than talking about life there (Twain). This work does not really talk about society at the time, because it only talks about the point of view of one man, and one can not know what the others were thinking (Twain). This work does not talk of religion or of government, but nature was very important to this work (Twain). This work shows that too much nature, or different jobs, can detract from nature and can just hurt the experiences one could have in nature (Twain). This work does not really talk about human nature, but there are things about how he is very upset about the fact that he can not really take nature at face value anymore (Twain). There is nothing about the American Dream, but Twain really wants to see nature again as he could in his youth (Twain). There is no figurative language, and there is also nothing about a Hero (Twain). Twain was a good author that could write in a number of different styles. He was very complex, and that makes for good stories.

Twain, Mark. ""Two Views of the River"" American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas Fisher, Beverly A. Chin, and Jacqueline J. Royster. Columbus: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 504-05. Print.