Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court may be the author's most misunderstood work. This can be traced the book's dual strands that often seem contradictory. Twain wrote a novel that is part polemic and part farce, and while attacking institutions he often praises individuals who make up those institutions. This paper will examine Twain's work and attempt to ascertain his true intent.
Later in life, Twain wrote that Connecticut Yankee ôwas an attempt to imagine, and after a fashion set forth, the hard conditions of life for the laboring and defenseless poor in bygone times in England, and incidentally contrast these conditions with those under which the civil and ecclesiastical pets of privilege and high fortune lived in those times.ö Twain makes that comparison, excoriating the privileged in the process. Furthermore, Twain wrote that he ôwas purposing to contrastàthe English life of the whole of the Middle Ages, with the life of modern Christendom and modern civilizationùto the advantage of the latter, of courseö (Twain 322).
Yet some of Connecticut Yankee contradicts that notion. Hank Morgan, the protagonist, is imbued with a sense of superiority based solely on his knowledge of technology. He makes it his goal to bring these poor sixth-century peasants into modern times, to rid them of their silly superstitions. Yet throughout the book, Hank uses superstition to gain control over the very people he wants to educate.
For example, Hank uses his knowledge of the total eclipse on June 21, 528 to gain favor with the king. Later, he uses his technological know-how to destroy Merlin's castle, and he does it in front of a large crowd. Hank usually utilizes his knowledge for good, but often he does it just because he can, or to show up a braggart (such as the man at the feast).
ôThe Bossö (as Hank is known) ultimately accomplishes many of his goals, bringing telephones, factories, and rai...