The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson

A detailed Summary of The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson


Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. He took up the name "Mark Twain," which was a riverboat term for "two fathoms deep," as an alias to use in his writings. Clemens' family was very poor when he was growing up, and his father died when he was only 11 years old. Needing money for the family, Clemens' quit school to work for his brother as a printer helping to publish a newspaper. Samuel figured out a few years later that printing was not for him, so he boarded a riverboat headed for New Orleans en route to South America, where he planned on collecting coca. Quickly changing his mind, Clemens persuaded the captain of the boat, Horace Bixby, to teach him how to pilot boats. He received his pilot lic


The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson is a story by Mark Twain that reaches deep into the issues of slavery and black versus white. This relatively short tale focuses around two babies who were born on the exact same day. Chambers is the baby of a slave girl who was only 1/16th black, making the baby a mere 1/32nd black- but still a slave. Tom is the baby of the slave girl's master, and looks remarkably like Chambers due to him being only 1/32nd black. For fear of her child's future, the slave girl Roxy switches her baby with the white Tom. No one is able to tell the difference but her, and all goes according to plan.

ense soon after in 1859. After just five years of piloting boats, he left in 1864 to work as a reporter in San Francisco. He started on his voyage to fame after one of his

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Approximate Word count = 534
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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