An Interesting twist of fate in Twain’s life inspired us to look into the lessons he learned
The duality of Samuel Langhorne Clemens’ life expanded far beyond his literary pseudonym Mark Twain. Twain abhorred the puffery of wealth, yet undeniably jumped at every effort to attain it by selling his work and himself. He became an icon in his own right, with his wispy, untamed hair, handlebar mustache, and signature white suits. Twain’s contrasted idealism of the simple pleasures, and desire to expand his income and further his fame, is seen in biographical accounts of his life, the events of which contributed to his work.
A bit of history:
Throughout his writing career Twain never lost sight of the work he did during his younger years that allowed him to achieve literary success. From the time of his father’s death in 1847 he learned to fend for himself, beginning as a printer’s apprentice and later jumping from odd jobs, fulfilling his dream of becoming a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi, taking a stint in the confederate army, and then accompanying his brother Orion on an overland passage to Nevada to become a gold miner. While mining he published his first book of short stories, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and soon took up story crafting full time. He also sought income as a lecturer, first speaking on the importance of honesty in travel writing, and later on his classic literary works.
Real stories of money mismanagement based on fiction?
There was an interesting triple play of fate in Twain’s life, beginning in 1876 when his short story The Canvasser’s Tale was first published in the Atlantic Monthly. In the story a traveling salesman peddling echoes door to door, explains that he was forced to begin selling after his uncle, an avid collector, became obsessed with gathering one complete set of valuable items. After failing to amass an assortment of physical things the salesman’s uncle settled on echoes, but even then he could not achieve ultimate success as the world’s sole echo owner. After seeing the absurdity in the man’s desire to sell off his unattainable echoes, the story narrator agrees to buy one. Through his narrator’s POV Twain creates a dual understanding of the man’s perception of the canvasser’s uncle being overtaken by a blind dream, and the audience’s recognition of this next “reasonable person’s” likelihood to be steered down the same path of false gain, in this case for the sake of the insolvent salesman.
One website archive, produced by Mark Twain researcher, writer, and consultant, Barbara Schmidt, suggests that Twain’s literary consciousness of the struggles of those trying to regain their footing after falling from capital standing, may be indirectly linked to his real life through the purchase of an estate in Archer Country, Texas, on farmland that he never actually set foot on. The land dealings there were not even his own, but rather those of his wife Olivia Clemens, who kept some of her savings separate from those of her husband, which Twain had no trouble admitting. Nor did he ever try to interfere in her finances, even in the case of such a large land purchase, at a time when most husbands had the final word. There is evidence that Livy purchased the Archer County farm and offered it with interest to Lousia Mussina Baird.
Who was this mysterious Ms. Baird? According to Schmidt’s website she was the cousin of Livy’s first cousin Andrew Langdon’s wife. In 1877 Louisa wrote to Livy in desperation, after Louisa’s push for her husband to sell their farm and try life as a businessman resulted in the depletion of their savings. She promised her friend that she would be able to pay back a loan with interest, begging for help to get a second chance that financial institutions would not accommodate.
Louisa and her husband’s business minded capital blunder was not far from that of the canvasser’s uncle in Twain’s story, or from Twain’s own later decision to purchase a printing press in 1877, buying into a salesman’s promise that it would expand his wealth. In fact, the two thousand dollar press, in addition to other unwise money making scheme investments, permanently damaged Twain’s finances to the point of bankruptcy. At the same time as trying to avoid a life built on the pursuit of affluence Twain, like Baird, fell prey to human desire and lack of foresight. This poor investment forced Twain to become even more involved in pushing his writing and literary esteem as means of boosting his earnings.
What can we take from Twain’s experience?
So often articles offer lists of quotes on writing by famous authors, but we wanted to seek guidance from Twain in between the lines of his life and his work. What can we scribblers take from all of this? First of all, if a deal seems too good to be true, it likely is. This is advice to keep abreast of in all financial dealings, but especially in the money we expend on our writing tools, educations, and careers. All writers must make a name for them self and a platform for their work, but be sure that you are not being blinded by your career ambitions in any investment (a multi-thousand dollar printing press, whatever the modern conversion, is likely not so wise). Twain also shows that even writers at the peak of their careers have to manage their finances prudently. Of course that truth stands for professionals in any field. For many, so does the reality that in order to achieve professional success one has to be willing to climb a few general labor ladder rungs to get there. But why should that be deemed undesirable?
The liking that Twain took to odd jobs is one we strongly encourage to all writers, which can certainly expand to volunteering, or hobby activities. People tell us to stick with the topics that we know, but so often writers point out that when reading and writing are your primary occupations writing what you know can make for some pretty lackluster stories. Many authors and writing instructors make the fair point that reading about different lifestyles and activities is a way of knowing them and therefore being able to write about them. While this is certainly true, lived experience cannot be duplicated in words, no matter how powerful. In addition to reading taking up side jobs or hobbies can be beneficial as story fodder and a means of exercising your writing mind and body beyond the page. Twain always said that he met his characters throughout his childhood and on his travels, first while driving the riverboat along the Mississippi and later while mining for gold. You never know where a story may start.
Twain’s everyman lifestyle also helped him to better represent the average person in his writing, and to keep from over complicating his plots, and likely even syntax and diction, which never seem overly pompous or out of place in his works. Twain followed his intuition and used his writing to tell stories from his lived experiences rather than using writing to direct his life.
As for the odd triple play of fate to have Twain write a story about a man trying to save himself from an unwise investment, then indirectly assist a woman in the same situation, only to fall prey to it himself, there is something to be said about having to put yourself in a situation before you can understand it. Twain helped readers to do this even before his own bungle, by embracing an unlikely situation in his prose to make a point. It’s odd that Twain’s echoer’s tale came before Louisa’s letter, but either way, imagine if he had written a story about a woman who sold a perfectly good farm and then turned to a friend for help after she lost the money from it, rather than The Canvasser’s Tale. There is something much more dramatically appealing about money squandered in echoes than sold land. Twain’s story allows readers to sympathize with the salesman’s dreamer uncle, so taken by an outlandish yet romantic possible purpose for his life that he ends up becoming totally obsessed with it. Twain’s use of a collectible as bizarre as echoes shows how far the mind can go once convinced of an “opportunity,” entering a blind spiral of self imposed obstacles.
Twain had fame and reputation to help straighten out his situation, but in the case of Louisa and his canvasser character it was not so easy, and even before his own poor purchase Twain did not fail to see that distinction, which his short story reveals to readers. Twain’s life displays that even the most esteemed individuals are human at heart, and sometimes the heart can lead the mind in injudicious decision making.
Through accounts of his life and pieces of his literature Twain reminds us that though it is healthy to embrace the lingering childish nature of ourselves, it is also vital to look closely at our adult choices and understand the drastic effects of rash financial decision making no matter who we are. Thankfully all choices offer the invaluable knowledge of experience.
Read the full story of Livy’s land dealings at: http://www.twainquotes.com/TexasLand.html
Brief Twain Bio: http://www.mtwain.com/l_biography.html
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