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In "The Mysterious Stranger" Mark Twain portrays a society so dependent on outside sources for guidance that the majority of Eseldorf's citizens do not have independent thought. This reliance is what eventually ruins many of the resident's lives and Satan merely serves to elucidate their foolish behavior. Though it is a much more modern time and setting, "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," is the same idea in a more modern time and setting. The inhabitants of Hadleyburg are not without corruption, simply temptation and the stranger's scheme only function to induce the true nature of the town.

Awareness breeds independent thought, and without knowledge it is very difficult to have awareness. The citizens are forced into ignorance because, knowledge "was not good for the common people, and could make them discontented with the lot which God had appointed for them, and God would not endure discontentment with His plans."(279) They are taught to be followers of God and all that symbolizes Him and His power which leads to the importance they place on the idea of Moral Sense. Moral Sense is "the fa

The man that corrupted Hadleyburg is blameless except for the invention of the temptation. As Satan did, the stranger merely created a situation which forced the people to see the reality of society's character. The scheme he devised only worked because the citizens allowed it to by the part they played.

The people of Hadleyburg possess the same weaknesses as the citizens of Eseldorf and though the particulars of each story is different, what they reveal about human nature is the same. The parallels between these stories demonstrate that the appearance of society may change over time but its basic features do not. There is always weakness and corruption and the key to confronting this is through knowledge. If knowledge is withheld from society, people will live in ignorance doing only what they know, and ultimately creating a cycle which, if not stopped, will spread. It is only through people like Satan and the stranger that the truth is revealed and the cycle can be broken.

culty which enables us to distinguish good from evil," however Eseldorf's citizens only know what is religiously virtu

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sense Satan, Residents Hadleyburg, Corrupted Hadleyburg, Moral Sense, Mark Twain, Marget Ursula, moral sense, modern setting, human nature, foolish little, corrupted hadleyburg, eseldorf's citizens, satan stranger, true nature,

Approximate Word count = 747
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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