Examining the Life and Works of a Literary Author - Essay Sample

Introduction

The literary genre is among the oldest type of writing that reflects and address the pertinent issues of the society. Literary writers usually draw the content of there writing from the problems they observe in society or from the experiences of their own life. Some of the issues in literature revolve around a specific period in a particular community. The author’s project is a literary work that analyzes the biography and particular actions of a specific author. This paper examines the biography of Mark Twain, one of the renowned writers in the United States. Furthermore, the document shall critically analyze the poem War Prayer and who it speaks to modern times.

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Biography of Mark Twain

Mark Twain is one of the all-time prolific writer best known for his astounding work of literature. He is well known for his unique writing, which features a humorous and sarcastic writing style. Most of his work reflects his social life and the bitterness he had in life. Twain was born in 1835 in Missouri (MacDonald 209) to the family of John Marshall Clemens. He got initially named Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but later, he changed his name to Mark Twain. The early childhood of Mark Twain is replete with hardship and poverty, a situation that forces him to start working at an old age – so that he can provide for his widowed mother (MacDonald 210). Twain moved to Hannibal to work for the apprentice courier owned by his brother Orion (Paine 16). The work only paid him a meager ration of food as his wage. He later worked as a steamboat pilot in the Mississippi River. His boat pilot career stopped after the civil war that started in 1865. Twain then took to writing, making him one of the most influential writers of the nineteenth century in the United States. The name Mark Twain reflects Samuel Clements’ first job as a boat pilot, which referred to the depth call – used by boat pilots. Most of his book reflects the plights of people in society. Perhaps his writing gets influenced by his life experience as a small boy. One of the notable pieces of paper is the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn depicts a lot of violence and bloodshed – a clear indication of his boyhood life where he witnessed a lot of murder in society. Other literary writings by Mark Twain were full of criticism of religions - a clear indication of a non-believer (Boyd 3). Later in the old age, Twain’s piece of writing depicts a man who is bitter about the society. He later died at the age of 74 years in 1910.

A Critical Review of the Poem, War Prayer by Mark Twain

The setting of the poem War Prayer is in a church where young soldiers, together with their families and other congregants, had gathered – for the soldiers to get prayed for before they set off for war. The poem depicts the church congregants as a group of patriots. At the front of the church is a priest who is leading the church procession. The priest quotes the Bible, which is a foreshadow of the strange man’s prayer that he makes later (New King James Version, Jer.51:29). Suddenly, a man enters the church and walks straight to the pulpit, where he summons the priest to step aside. Twain narrates that the man started by saying, “I come from the Throne—bearing a message from Almighty God!” (2). After this, the strange man makes remarks which allude to that the prayers made by the priests carried pessimism since other people could end up being a casualty. The poem probably wanted to show the unspoken dark side of prayers of victory made by Christians to God.

In the poem, War Prayer, the strange man in church notes that, if we pray for victory, it means the prayers silently mean, “Our enemies ought to become slain to death” (Twain 3). He gave an example of a neighbor who earnestly prays for the rain on his/her fields of crops. Such a prayer sounds innocent, but in its totality, the prayer is also asking for the neighbor’s crop field not to receive any rainfall at all (Twain 3).

The period in which the War Prayer gets written is the time of the civil war in the United States. Mostly, the works of Twain reflects a specific period, his social, political, and economic life. The prayer depicts a society tired of war and probably looking for solace from religion – to bring them victory and keep their sons safe during the time of war. The poem also reveals the dark side of Twain, where his literary writing started showing bitterness towards society and religion in his writings. Perhaps Twain expressed his disappointment in this form of writing - since he was doing badly economically despite being at the peak of his book. The bitterness and regrets also emanated from the personal loss he had incurred in life.

Some of the losses Twain incurred is the death of his son and daughter (Paine 7, Bush 8). Twain’s wife died, leaving him to ultimately become skeptical about religion and society (Bush 8). It is during the time of his wife’s passing that he wrote the poem War Prayer. However, the poem did not get published because Twain wanted to avoid trouble at the time of war. It was until the year 1923 that the poem got published. But even before his death, Twain said even with his death, and the truth will still hold in the literary work he had written (Eastman 79).

When we critically analyze the poem, there is some truth in the hold to date. Young people join the military to fight in the forefront in the name of patriotism to the American country. Many decades have passed, and we still see soldiers sent to fight and destroy the lives of other people n the name of fighting terrorism. Surprisingly, no one cares about the innocent women and children that get affected by such wars. The War Prayer is an indirect prayer that besieges the people who forge war - - to stop it because of the losses it incurs on people.

Furthermore, it speaks for the people who have suffered much in society, but no one seems to care. Although the poem gets written many years ago, it speaks to all generations about the “patriotic lie” about fighting in the name of American patriotism. The chaos and destruction brought about by the “war on terrorism” in Iraq are unprecedented (Ashraf 5).

The poem also criticizes the church for only seeing one side of the coin, whereby soldiers get prayed for to go and kill other people. It is a way of urging the church leaders to see both sides of the coin before taking sides when it comes to war. The other party that gets addressed by the poem is the Christian believers. The poem challenges Christians to stop selfish prayers since an answer to their prayers means tragedy for other people.

Conclusion

Mark Twain is a prolific writer who wrote some of the greatest works of literature that inspired both the United States and the world at large. The humble background and society replete with violence significantly shape his style of writing. Furthermore, Mark Twain’s life experiences shape his literary works up to the time he dies. Some of the issues that shaped his books include violent society, poverty, the death of his children and wife, and disappointments in life. One of the most significant works he ever did is the poem War Prayer. The poem is a critical piece of writing that mirrors the hypocrisy of the society hiding behind churches to propagate their evil plans.

Works Cited

Eastman, Susan Lyn. “Mark Twain’s “The War Prayer” in Film and Social Media.” The Mark Twain Annual 14.1 (2016): 78-92.

MacDonald, Bonney. “The Life of Mark Twain: The Early Years, 1835–1871 by Gary Scharnhorst.” Western American Literature 54.2 (2019): 209-211.

Paine, Albert. Mark Twain: A Biography. Volume I, Part 1: 1835-1866. Liters, 2018.

Twain, Mark. “The War Prayer.” Terry Oggel’s Special Features, Virginia Commonwealth University, www.people.vcu.edu/~toggel/prayer.pdf.

Bush, Harold K. “Nature Shrieking” and Parasitic Wasps: Mark Twain, Theodicy, and the War of Nature.” The Mark Twain Annual 17.1 (2019): 112-128.

Boyd, Joshua. “Mark Twain: A Christian Response to His Battle with God by Ray Comfort.” Christianity & Literature 66.1 (2016): 180-183.

Ashraf, Abida. “Religio-political discourses in documentary films on Iraq promoting peace or conflict.” Islamic Communication Journal 4.2 (2019): 121-132.