Essay - The Mysterious Stranger Introduction the Purpose of This Paper Is...

THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

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The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss "The Mysterious Stranger" by Mark Twain. The version often studied in colleges is a he*****vily edited version of Mark *****'s original writing. This paper will research the differences in the original ***** and the edited version, including how his personal tragedies took a toll on Twain's mental health. The ***** edited ***** Paine/Duneka was an attempt to save Twain's public image. Was this because ***** his mental state? Did t***** mental state affect his writing of "The Mysterious Stranger?"

TWAIN AND THE "MYSTERIOUS STRANGER"

Mark Twain wrote "The Mysterious Stranger" at the end ***** ***** life, and near the conclusion of a long ********** renowned career. Known for his biting sarcasm and supreme wit, Twain was an American legend by the time this story ***** published in 1916, six years after his death. Immediately, it seems to deviate from his other works, for the subject is certainly dark and evil compared to ***** other books, such as "Mark Twain," and "Roughing It," where h***** ***** ***** humor were the primary reasons the books sold so well. People were used ***** reading books from Twain that made them think, but ***** them laugh, but "***** Mysterious *****" simply made most people uncomfortable. Perhaps the discomfort came ***** it hit too close to home for many readers, and they saw the absolute ***** ultimate hopelessness ***** portrays at the end of the book.

The book opens in 1590 in Eseldorf, Austria. Eseldorf is a peaceful community with its share of local scandals, like Peter the priest who is suspended for saying "that God was all goodness and would find a w*****y to save all his poor human children."

In "The Mysterious Stranger" Mark Twain *****mulates his final diagnosis ***** the human condition. He also proposes a remedy. In *****nswer to ***** narra*****r's claim that the human race possesses a sense of humor, Satan says that most people have only a "'mongrel perception of humor," en*****bling them to:

see the comic side of a thousand low-grade and trivial things-broad incongruities, mainly... evokers ***** the horse-*****. The ten thousand high-grade comicalities which exist in the world are sealed from their dull vision. Will a day come when the race will detect ***** funniness of these juvenilities and laugh at *****--and ***** ********** at them destroy them? For your race, in ***** poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon--laughter.... Against the assault ***** laughter nothing can stand. You are always fussing and fighting with ***** ***** weapons. Do you ever use that one?... No; ***** lack sense and ***** courage" (XXVII, 131-32).

At the beginning of the story, Twain calls ***** a "paradise," and the meaning is clear - he intends to s***** the paradox that heaven al*****o can create hell, and the two can easily exist side by side - indeed they ***** in each of us every day. He is *****ing to show his readers the folly of black