The Adventures of Huck Fin :: Essays Papers

Mark Twain The Adventures of Huck Fin Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain is a famous author. He is one of the most widely respected and loved American writers. He wrote over 30 works, including satires, short stories, historical fiction and non-fiction novels as well as five Travelogues. One of the novels that he wrote was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. That is the novel I read. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. He was the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. Just a few years later, in 1839, the Clemens family moved to a nearby town, Hannibal, where he spent his childhood years. During his those years, he had a strong bond with the Mississippi River. His childhood dream was to become a steamboat man on the river. The town in which he lived steamboats docked 3 times a day. Clemens was fascinated with them. By the age of 16, Clemens was working for his brother Orion’s Hannibal Western Union. He published sketches and worked as a printer, sometimes taking on editor in his brother’s absence. By age 21 he was seeking a bunk on a ship going to South America. There he met Horace Bixby, a steamboat pilot. He persuaded Horace to take him on as an apprentice and after two years on the Mississippi, Clemens had his pilot’s license. With the start of the Civil War in April 1861, river traffic on the Mississippi was suspended. Clemens' steamboat pilot career came to an end. He had been occasionally sending letters to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, the territory's most well known newspaper, and by September 1862, he had been accepted to be a reporter for the paper. After a short 17 months, Clemens left the Enterprise and went to San Francisco. He traveled extensively for the next few years and at age 33 he secretly was engaged to Olivia Langdon, better known as Livy. In 1870 his life took a dramatic change towards stability. He married Livy and settled down in Buffalo, N.Y. They had a few traumatic years and finally moved to Connecticut. They had 3 daughters, Susy, Clara and Jean. He also published The Gilded Age, with Charles Dudley Warner, his first fictional book.