Mark Twain – Two Views of the River

Regionalism is what came to mind while reading this because Mark Twain is talking about the river and taking the reader away from their home and into the story about the river. Although everyone knows a lot about any river in general, Mark Twain goes on more about the river itself and how it seems to have a mind of its own, making it almost see like the river is the hero. Even though the river is not actually a living human being, Twain still writes as though it could possible have a mind of its own. Twain is quoted in the story saying, "Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river! I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me" (Twain 504). Even though Twain has gained knowledge about the river, he also lost the natural feeling of it, which I find common after being around someone or something too long. I know that after a while, things seem to become routine, and not so fun anymore, as I have noticed with track. I have been running since sixth grade, and by now, the fun seems to be lost in the sport, because I do the same thing every single day. There is no variety to the workouts or the races or anything. Therefore, although I have gained more experience, I have lost what it feels like to try something new. But, do not get me wrong, each race is different, it is just that I know what to expect now, and therefore will not feel the thrill of starting something new. That is what I was able to gather from those couple of sentences by Mark Twain.

Another thing that Twain said that made me think just in general and furthered my point about nature eventually losing its charm what when he said, "I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me, and I had never seen anything like this at home. But as I have said, a day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the river's face; another day came when I ceased altogether to note them." "No, the romance and the beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat" (Twain 505). Twain is feeling mixed emotions about the river, but still regards it as somewhat of an icon and idol, despite the fact that he is just now using it to get from point A to point B.

Works Cited:

Twain, Mark. "Two Views of the River" American Literature Textbook. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 504-505. Print.