Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain

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Before reading the article, I had thought that there was no way that it was anyone’s tragedy, but Roxy’s. She was born into slavery, being 1/16th black. The fact that 19th century antebellum was so obsessed with race, that they enslaved anyone who had a drop of African blood, is upon itself ridiculous. She started out at a disadvantage among every other character. When she tried to save her son from her own fate, along with the eventual fate of being sold down the river, she switched him at birth with Tom Driscoll. As “Tom” grew up, he was terrible towards his mother. Roxy had to endure the torture that was her son not appreciating what she did for him. She had risked her life to ensure that “Tom” would live a comfortable one, and she was repaid with ridicule and belittlement. Pudd’nhead realizes later in the story that Roxy did switch, and exclaims “It’s so! Heaven, what a revelation! And for twenty-three years no man has ever suspected it!” (Twain 111). Wilson recognizes the intellect of Roxy, and admires it, but is faced with the fact that he is forced to break the secret that is the identity of “Tom”.

My initial reaction to Hogan’s article was a feeling of discovery. Learning that the book was not just a sense of literal, but also a moral tragedy, completely changed my perspective on the book. After I read the article, I was truly convinced me that the tragedy was not a literal tragedy of wellbeing for a character, but the downfall of the morals Wilson, the missed opportunity of social evolution that was presented to Dawson’s Landing, and the recognition of the American Tragedy. The evidence presented was sufficient and thorough, and provided enough insight to completely change my thesis of the paper, but also the way I looked at the characters. It did not completely transform the thoughts toward the characters, as their actions brought them either immediate justice, or immediate gratitude, but it did make me realize that they could have been handled the situation differently, and perhaps gotten a better result for all of humanity, rather than just themselves.