Mark Twain – "Two Views of the River"

Realism and Regionalism are the main components of this work. Realism is present in the more analytical style of writing and the use of unembellished words. Fortunately, Realism is not as unadorned a writing style as Puritanism, but it is less flowery than Romanticism. Also a noteworthy characteristic of Realism that is present in "Two Views of the River" is the use of figurative language. Twain consistently compares his plight to that of a doctor. He no longer sees the beauty of the river, while a doctor cannot see the beauty of a woman for all the medical information running through his head. "Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay?" (Twain 505). This memoir by Mark Twain is a bit depressing as he goes on to describe how his favorite thing in the world, the river, has lost all of its magic and all the charm it once held for him as a boy. He has become embittered by it and no longer sees the beauty of life all around the river and the small ever-changing ways of a river (Twain). He remembers a sunset he once saw and remarks upon how beautiful he saw it one time, he remarks upon each feature of the scene, a dead tree, a floating log, a small whirlpool, an area of circling water, and the color of the sun (Twain). He then mentions about how he would remark if he saw the same scene today, he would merely look at it from a pilot's point of view, the log meaning a rising river, the sun's color meaning wind for the next day, the dead tree not going to be there as a friendly landmark much longer, and the circling of the water meaning it is starting to shoal up there and the whirlpool, a dissolving of a sand bar creating a change in the currents. Twain begins speaking about how he had once viewed nature as wonderful and beautiful; however, he had been naive and had not experienced many of the events he now had experienced (Twain 505). Now, instead of simply seeing the wonders of nature as beautiful and exotic, he now saw them for what they really were. Instead of taking nature for granted and not really thinking in depth about how or why things came to be, he had just accepted them as they were. Now, instead, he is beginning to see things for what they really are scientifically and realistically. This story captures parts of Realism in a view different ways. Twain kind of becomes hardened by his work on the boat, which is something that is very common. People really do not appreciate all that they have until they realize they do not have it anymore. This practical loss makes the story seem easier to relate to and more plausible (Campbell "Realism"). Twain is upset about what he is missing out on, and that is something that happens to everyone at some point in their lives. We all lose litte parts of ourselves along the way, but those losses make us what we are today. This story can be classified as a piece of Realism simply because it documents the very common loss of youthful innocence that people go through in life

Twain, Mark. Two Views of the River. Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. Amerian Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 504-05. Print.