Pudd'nhead Wilson

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson is a murder mystery as much as it is a harsh indictment of any society that allows for the institution of slavery. Two children are born on the same day. One is white and one is mulatto. The mother of the mulatto is afforded the care of both children. Fearing that he son will be sold into slavery, she exchanges the two infants. However, the mulatto grows up to be a scoundrel. He sells his mother, kills and steals from his uncle, and he accuses a boy named Luigi, a twin, of the murder. David Wilson, a lawyer, is called "Pudd'nhead" Wilson by the townsfolk. Wisdom and eccentricity are equally combined in Pudd'nhead, though he is misunderstood by his community. Pudd'nhead takes charge of Luigi's defense, and with the use of fingerprint evidence he is able to expose the real murderer. Despite this murder mystery driving the action forward, the book is also an indictment of any society allowing slavery.

As much as the work is certainly an indictment of a society that allows slavery, we get a dispassionate indictment of the evil from Twain's pen. While we do get plenty of examples of the injury visited upon slaves by cruel, insolent and superior slave owners, we also get a picture of grace, old-world dignity, and kindness in many of the of the "better sort" of slave owners. Still, as much as Twain fills this novel with laughs on pretty much every page, it is laughter that is used to shed further light on

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