Thursday, October 28, 2010
Seeing Double
So in our discussion on Wednesday, we focused on the "nature vs. nurture" aspect of the novel that we have been presented with thus far. However, we didn't get a chance to discuss the arrival of the twins and the impact they have on the community. Even before they arrive, just word of their arrival triggers an immediate hustle and bustle. I am not sure what to expect of their arrival to the community, but their arrival seems somewhat suspicious. On page 29, Twain writes "They realized that for once in their lives they were hearing masters." Maybe I am looking too far into this, but it seems as though this is a role reversal from their normal life, which suggests that the life they used to live. As Judge Driscoll is giving the foreigners a tour of the town, he begins to give them keys, and it almost seems as those he is giving away the town to two absolute strangers. I think this might be foreshadowing a criminal offense that might be happening in the near future. Or at least I am hoping that it is....What do you guys think? Other than the idea of putting identifying labels onto the characters of the novel, is there any significance to their "identical"-identity?
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When the twins were introduced, I too became suspicious of what their role would be in the story. There's this movie called "True Romance" and there's a very memorable scene in that movie where a Sicilian mob boss interrogates a guy about the whereabouts of his son who has something that belongs to him etc...
ReplyDeleteWell this scene popped in my head immediately when I read that the twins were Italians. Reason being id that, the dad character in the film insults the mob boss by telling him that his ancestors were black men, and that is why Sicilians were dark skinned. To make a long story short, I thought that maybe it would be revealed that these two twins whom the town were in absolute awe off were some part black and the town would see that black men, given an opportunutty, are capable of talents and intelligence. Or they might then immediately begin to treat them horribly, showing the towns utter ignorance. These are some scenarios that popped in my head as possible future events, but as I have read on I don't think that will be the case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXjcf47y-zk
Regards,
Tomas Suarez
I don't think that the purpose of the twins is to commit some crime or be part of a racial statement. I think that they exist in order to provide a juxtaposition between how the town treats these Italian twins and how they treat Tom and Chambers who are more identical then the twins. The only people who have so far mentioned that Tom and Chambers are identical in appearances are Wilson and Roxy. None of the other villagers don't even seem to recognize that the two even look alike. While the other boys mock Tom for having Chambers as s body guard not a single one of the children makes not of the fact that Tom looks exactly like his own slave. On the other hand it is often noted how similar the twins look despite the fact that their appearances differ slightly. Why would the twins be compared to each other, while a slave and his master would not? Because of the racial mindset of the time, no villager other than the intelligent Wilson would even think of comparing someone who is considered white as someone Whois considered black.
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