ACCTG 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Gilded Age, Sled Dog, Autodidacticism
VO Introduction to American Literary Studies
6. Gilded Age – Realism
Mark Twain mockingly called this literary period “the Gilded Age”. It implies an allegedly
Golden Age, which, upon closer inspection, turns out to be only gilded on the surface and is,
in fact, hollowed out by growing capitalism and materialism.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
This author addressed the antagonism between North and South in his works. Born as
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he grew up in the South. During the Civil War he worked as a
journalist and assumed the pseudonym Mark Twain under which he later gained
international publicity and fame. (Mark Twain is a phrase called out by river pilots to signal
the depth of two fathoms, that is, safe passage in deep enough waters.)
Many humoristic elements can be found in Twain’s successful novels, such as “The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The novel is a multi-layered analysis of American culture
and American’s racial problems. The novels narrator is Huck Finn, who, due to his lack of
education and his status as a quasi-orphan, has a rather unconventional outlook on his
environment. Especially Twain’s use of Huck as a narrator is ground-breaking, as the story is
told from the unconventional first-person perspective of a social outcast.
Jack London(1876-1916)
Experimenting with unusual points of view through unconventional narrator figures is not
restricted to Huck Finn. In Call of the Wild (1903), Twain’s contemporary Jack London tells
the story from the point of view of a sled dog called Buck. In the End, after a degrading tasks
and heroic deeds for different masters, Buck wins his freedom as he advances to be the
leader of a pack of wolves in the Alaskan wilderness. Despite the unconventional point of
view, Call of the Wild highlights numerous themes of Jack London’s other work, most of
which are autobiographically motivated.
After some years at sea, an experience that strongly influenced his novel The Sea Wolf, the
autodidact London followed the Gold Rush to the Klondike in Alaska. London became a
wealthy and renowned man. However, despite international fame and material success,
Landon was never really pleased with himself or his life situation.
Document Summary
Vo introduction to american literary studies: gilded age realism. Mark twain mockingly called this literary period the gilded age . Golden age, which, upon closer inspection, turns out to be only gilded on the surface and is, in fact, hollowed out by growing capitalism and materialism. This author addressed the antagonism between north and south in his works. Samuel langhorne clemens, he grew up in the south. Many humoristic elements can be found in twain"s successful novels, such as the. The novel is a multi-layered analysis of american culture and american"s racial problems. The novels narrator is huck finn, who, due to his lack of education and his status as a quasi-orphan, has a rather unconventional outlook on his environment. Especially twain"s use of huck as a narrator is ground-breaking, as the story is told from the unconventional first-person perspective of a social outcast. Experimenting with unusual points of view through unconventional narrator figures is not restricted to huck finn.
