Though I agree that the time period likely influenced inevitable repercussions in Twain’s subconscious view of race, I do not believe that that influence is manifested in Pudd’nhead Wilson. To me, the personalities of characters and the race of those characters exist as they do not because Twain subconsciously associates these characteristics with a particular race, but because these characters must be as they are and they must be the race that they are in the context of the novel’s plot and theme.
Before I elaborate on that, it is necessary to relate the argument of nurture vs. nature to the plot of the novel. I believe in this novel Twain is making the very controversial statement that nature does not influence who a person is, rather his environment determines his personality and his character. The argument for nurture, in this case, makes the claim that the intrinsic nature of a person, the biology of a person, in this case the skin color of a person does not determine who he is. From this, it follows that slavery on the basis that nature is determinate (of worth, intelligence, class, etc.) is flawed, which is the point I believe Twain is trying to make in this novel.
For the purpose of exaggerating the effect of nurture on character, Twain must include two conflicting characters, two very opposite circumstances, and two resulting characters that are typical and indicative of their environment. The new Tom must be a brat because it exaggerates the stereotype of white males. In contrast, Chambers must be very subservient and good-natured because it exaggerates the effects of slavery. The two exist as extreme polar opposites to highlight the effects of the nurture on two boys who, at the beginning of the story, our detailed as being identical and even referred to as the same. The fact that they start so similar, but end up so different, is the point of this novel. , evidence against Twain’s racism exists in the fact that the child brought up by the white family is spoiled; while the child brought up by the black family is moral.
Also, the fact that white characters have better qualities than black characters is just an aspect of the plot that cannot be avoided. Pudd’nhead Wilson cannot be black, or else he would never have, in that time period, been able to enjoy his strange habits, get an education, or start a practice. I think the qualities of Roxy’s character are also central to the plot development. The fact that she is not very smart, and slightly immoral allows her character, her personality, to support Tom’s criminal behavior and to allow the switch to occur in the first place. To me, these characters exist as they are because they serve a purpose to the plot, and they exist as they are as some particular race also to support and progress the novel.
Madolyn,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you. I certainly didn’t pick up on any racist undertones in the novel that appear to have stemmed from the author’s beliefs, only those of the characters of Dawson’s Landing. After finishing the novel, I think the argument that the apparent pattern in the races of the “good” and the “bad” characters is not a subconscious racist interjection, but is necessary for the plot, is even more convincing. The entire climax and conclusion of the story is centered about the act of Tom murdering his uncle for money and his eventual arrest. On the very last page of the novel, Tom is pardoned because of the claim that he was actually the property of those creditors that Percy Driscoll was indebted to, and is then sold down the river. This is extremely ironic, as Roxy switched the two babies out of fear of her child being sold down the river and the switch is what made that happen. This ending creates a definite impression on the reader, shocking him with this last twist in the plot. None of this would have been possible had the races of some of the “good” and “bad” characters been reversed.
Furthermore, the pattern of "good characters being white and bad characters being black" does not entirely hold true when one examines the characters of some of Twain’s other works. For example, in Huckleberry Fin, Jim (a slave) is portrayed in a positive light, as a deeply compassionate and intelligent human being. I think this all shows that the particular races of certain characers were not the products of a subconscious racist perspective but of an author conscious of his characterization, purpose and plot.