Born | November 30th, 1835 |
Died | April 21st, 1910 |
Famous Quote | “May you always keep your youth.” |
Known For | Changing American literature, Supporting the sciences |
Region of the World | United States, 19th century |
Mark Twain remains one of the most famous and enigmatic authors in history. It is impossible to accurately count all of his writings and even up to 2015 new pieces of literature by Twain are being discovered.
Mark Twain’s fame is due to one major reason. That is that Mark Twain successfully created the field of American literature. This style of writing combined folk legends with wit and prose and direct humor to create stories. This style of writing became iconic across the Americas.
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Without further ado, here is why Mark Twain became so famous.
American Writing Before Twain
One of the reasons that Mark Twain became so famous was because he forever changed the way that American literature was written.
Before Mark Twain the literature of the United States was dry and political. This resembled English and French literature in nature and composition.
Examples of authors using this dry political literature can be seen in Benjamin Franklin’s works and William Hill.
Mark Twain would forever change American writing and as such became one of the most famous writers of all time.
How Mark Twain Forever Changed American Literature
Mark Twain was the first American Author to grow up in the frontier of the United States far from the hustle and bustle of the city.
This heavily inspired his writings for the rest of his life. Mark Twain lived across the western United States and worked many jobs over the course of his life.
As such Twain would encounter various types of culture and dialect that he would put into his stories.
Mark Twain’s fame is partly due to his inclusion of journalism and direct and evocative humor designed to entice the reader to continue.
This was game changing for an author to do. Before Mark Twain authors of the United States wrote dry witty humor designed to provide a satire on their contemporary life.
Mark Twain instead wrote literature that would seek to first entertain with a degree of low level humor but also provide allegory for his contemporary society. This level of hidden wit and prose astonished the readers of Mark Twain.
Because of this style of writing Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn went on to become one of the best books of all time. This propelled Mark Twain to become one of the most famous authors of all time.
Mark Twain’s Continued Fame Today
One of the main reasons that Mark Twain continues to be so famous today was because of his hidden lifestyle.
Mark Twain was not just an author. He also was an inventor, business man, and influential correspondent to several of the most famous people of all time.
For example Mark Twain loved technology and science. One of his closest friends was none other than the famous Nikola Tesla. Mark Twain would often accompany and help Tesla with a wide range of experiments in his Tesla’s laboratory.
Further, Mark Twain was also an inventor. He holds patents on several inventions such as a self pasting scrapbook which sold over 25,000 units.
Mark Twain was also an advocate of the fingerprinting system of identifying criminals. He would often feature this new invention in his stories such as Life on the Mississippi.
Because of this nonstop curiosity and writing Mark Twain’s fame only grows with time. He was a quiet individual who we are still discovering more about everyday.
Conclusion
There you have it; an entire article that goes over why Mark Twain is so famous.
Mark Twain often comes up in debate as the father of American literature. This is because of his ability to combine folk tales and vivid imagination into a witty satire of his contemporary life. Because of this he remains one of the most famous authors of all time.
Here at The History Ace I strive to publish the best history articles on the internet. If you liked content like this then consider subscribing to the free newsletter and sharing around the web. I really appreciate it.
Further, you can check out some of the other articles below.
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Until next time,
Nick