![]() Indeed, according to her, Twain’s attitude toward religion never reached the point of being definitive, and his affirmations about it were often contradictory, standing in a tension that was never resolved. Carolina Pernigo does well in characterizing Twain’s religious path as ambiguous and oscillating. Without the need for Providence, God’s creation continues moving according to pre-established laws even as the divine watchmaker withdraws from it. His religious belief at the time corresponded very well with the deism commonly held by freemasonry: the faith in a God that is some higher, but impersonal force, who made the universe like a watchmaker fabricates a clock. In fact, a couple of years before meeting Langdon, Clemens had joined the Freemasons, becoming affiliated with the Polar Star Lodge Number 79 of St. After about nine years into their marriage, she confided to her adopted sister that she no longer believed in a personal God. In the end, it was Clemens who influenced his wife more than she influenced him. While giving his wife free rein in continuing her religious observance, he formally excused himself, explaining that he could no longer go on this way. The Bible contradicted his reason, and he began feeling like a hypocrite. However, he did not manage to acquire a taste for the faith. As she was a liberal yet devout Christian, during the period of courtship and into the first period of their marriage, he tried emulating her faith, taking on forms of Christian piety, such as saying grace at table and observing a daily Scripture reading. ![]() In 1869 Clemens began courting Olivia Langdon, whom he married in 1870. In 1868 he moved to Washington D.C., continuing as a correspondent but also serving as secretary to a Senator from Nevada. A year later he started working as a correspondent for various Californian newspapers, first in Hawaii, then in New York, and finally in Europe and the Holy Land. In 1865 he published his first successful short story Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. In this period, he began using his pen name Mark Twain. Having barely missed out on making a fortune with the silver mines, he found employment as a reporter and writer at various newspapers in Nevada and California for the next couple of years. Navigating the Mississippi became impossible, and Clemens briefly joined a volunteer unit of the Confederate Army, but abandoned warfare still the same year and moved to Nevada where he joined his brother and took to mining. In 1861 the American Civil War broke out. “Mark twain” thus literally means “mark two”-the second mark on the measuring cord-and was commonly shouted or even sung by steamship sailors to indicate safe water. Two fathoms, about 3,6 meters, were sufficient for a riverboat to navigate. “Twain” is Old English for “two.” The sailors of the Mississippi would mark the leadline with which they measured the River’s depth, putting a tag every six feet, which, in the imperial system of measurement, make one fathom. Samuel Clemens’ pen name, Mark Twain, derives from this context. He began his training in 1857 and obtained his license two years later. At this time, his dream, however, was to become a Mississippi steamboat pilot. ![]() Here he was introduced to the world of writing. From 1848-1853 he worked at two different local papers in Hannibal, acting in various capacities from paper carrier to sub-editor and even reporter. As his father had died when he was only twelve years old, from early on he had to contribute to the family’s economic upkeeping. Ĭlemens completed nine years of schooling. In his judgment, Holy Scripture had a corrosive influence on people. By reporting miraculous events as historical occurrences, the Bible makes claims that to Clemens’ mind were evidently false so that it would be irrational to give them any credence. Though he knew the Sacred Text, he cannot be said to have become an enthusiast. Using the literary device of exaggeration, he would later claim that already by the age of two weeks, he was familiar enough with the biblical figure of the Prophet Samuel to be able to object to having received the name of someone whom God had to call a couple of times before he responded. As a result, he had great familiarity with Holy Scripture. There he was sent to Sunday school and received a strict Presbyterian-Calvinist religious formation. Four years later, he and his family moved to the river town of Hannibal in the same state. Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. 44.Įnglish version of Stephan Kampowski, “Introducción,” in Mark Twain, Diarios de Adán y Eva, Editorial Didaskalos, Madrid 2021, 11-49. Strothmann, in: MARK TWAIN, Extracts from Adam’s Diary. ![]()
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