Asher Sisneros

Mark Twain is most known for his books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, both of which have become staples in American literature. However, before his passing, he also wrote an autobiography. For English class, I had to read it. The entire English course is masterfully structured to teach the students how to write an autobiography for themselves. The curriculum does this by analyzing dozens of autobiographies (both good and bad) and noting the pros and cons of each author’s writing style. For this assignment, I will critique Twain’s autobiography. I will establish elements that I’d reuse for my autobiography. I will also mention my critiques and what I think Twain missed out on.

It’s undeniable that Twain was a gifted writer. His stories throughout the autobiography are fascinating and, in many respects, amusing because they are lighthearted. For example, in chapter nine, Twain recalled a story from his youth. His sister held a party and invited all of the singles that lived in town. He was to play the part of a bear in a play that the young children were performing. He crept into an old abandoned house across the street. All of the children performing in the play were changing there. He started undressing to change into the bear costume. Halfway in the process, he started practicing his part, roaring like a beast. But there was one issue; he was naked. Girls were hiding behind a screen door, watching him. Finally, they burst into laughter, and Twain ran in humility. Stories like that are incredibly entertaining. Twain’s autobiography is full of them. It’s a pleasure to read lighthearted storytelling. That is a positive attribute that I’ll have to carry into my writing. 

As for the negatives, the entire book feels disconnected. There’s no sense of flow from one story to another. It’s more like a journal. Journals and autobiographies are not the same things. While journals are a collection of memories, an autobiography is your life’s story. Stories are supposed to have one larger objective. Good stories aren’t just monotonous telling of the facts as they happened. Rather, a good story has flow, and every word is there for a reason. Take Jim Lehrer’s autobiography, A Bus of My Own, for example. He started the book at a gas station, talking about his father’s failed bus company. Buses were a central theme throughout the book. He went on to write novels and work in the news, but he kept reminding the reader about his bus obsession. Finally, at the end of his book, he returns to his roots and purchases a bus of his own. It was a wonderful conclusion. An autobiography should have some central themes, and there should be an objective. I chose Jim Lehrer as an example because there was nothing extraordinary about his story. For the lack of a better term, he was your average Texan. To quote everyone’s mother, “it wasn’t what he said, but it was how he said it.” Anyone can replicate the poetic resolve in Lehrer’s autobiography. Having a central theme in the autobiography is critical in avoiding disjointed writing. 

Another thing that writers can do is point out their personal character arcs throughout their life. People go through changing mindsets over time. They may have one belief in a season of their life and hold to the antithesis later on. It’s part of human nature. It’s nice reading how people’s perspectives change over time, given their circumstances. Sergei Kourdakov did this beautifully in his autobiography. He started as a patriotic follower of Lenin but eventually fled the thing he used to zealously fight for. I love how he emphasized this dramatic shift in worldview. Instead of trying to hide how he was naive when younger, he played into it. Twain did not do this, and I think it was to his detriment. 

In conclusion, I will have an overall point and theme in my autobiography. I’ll also incorporate shifts in perspective and how that affected my decisions. The stories will remain lighthearted and funny when possible.