Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Theme Comments on Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson

Tuesday 22 April 2014 for Periods 2,5, & 6 and Wednesday 23 April 2014 for Periods 1 & 7

Devotional Text: Amos 9:7

Vocabulary
Students had an opportunity to complete Vocabulary Energizers Chapter 4 if they had not already. Chapter 4 should have been submitted for grading before the end of the period. (There will be a test over Chapter 4 on Thursday for Periods 5 & 6 and on Friday for Periods 1, 2, & 7.)

Theme Topics

Mr. Stone listed the following topics on the board from Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson that came up from the class's previous discussion of the conflicts in the novel:

genetics v. environment/nature v. nurture

slavery

race

social status

honor

identity

betrayal

theft/stealing

gambling

parent-child relationships

reputation

money

law

finger printing/palmistry/forensics

Theme Comments
Students were given an identity (P5-2 is the student in Period 5 who is second alphabetically by last name in the period.) and assigned two chapters from the novel.

The assignment is post two comments on Mr. Stone Blog. Post each comment under the entry with the corresponding topic word, e.g. a description of Mark Twain's comment on older parents with two sentences of the student's explanation of what that passage is saying about parent-child relationships would get posted as a comment under "Parent-Child Relationships in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson."


Each of the student's two comments should contain the following elements:

the chapter number

a descriptive summary/short quotation of the passage that contains an example of the selected topic

two or more sentences explaining how/what the example illustrates a generalization about the selected topic

the students blog ID


Homework: Prepare two theme comments and post them on the blog. Be sure and pick to post anonymous.Be sure and copy your post before attempting to post it in case it doesn't go through so that you don't have to type again. If it doesn't go through, sign in to Google using your Google account information or one of the other methods listed in the drop down screen. If you had to sign-in to Google, you will still need to chose to post as anonymous.

53 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Theft/Stealing in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson

    Chapter 13

    "'The Hankses, the Dobsons, the Pilligrew, the Ortons, the Grangers, the Hales, the Fullers, the Holcombs, in face everybody that lives around about Patsy Cooper's had been robbed of little things like trinkets and teaspoons and suchlike small valuables that are easily carried off" (Twain 76).

    "Tom" hears Mr. Justice Robinson talk to Wilson and Jim Blake about the raids that have been happening all around town. "Tom" already knows about these raids, because he is actually the thief. He has been stealing things from other people's homes in order to pay off his gambling debts so his uncle won't disinherit him once again. The town residents act as if this thievery is a shameful thing to do; however, "Tom" finds no remorse for his dishonest actions.

    P6-18

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  3. Oh wait. . . I think I did this wrong. Let me copy/paste it in the right place.

    P6-18

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  4. Identity in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson.

    Chapter 9

    Roxy reveals that "Tom" isn't related to Marse Driscoll and that he is actually her son, a nigger. (p48-49)
    "Tom" loses a sense of identity after being told by Roxy that he isn't related to who he thought was his uncle. "Tom" who thought he was full white must of went into identity shock finding out that he was indeed a nigger.

    P5-5

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  5. Race in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson.

    Chapter 10

    "A nigger! I am a nigger! Oh, I wish I was dead!" (p52)
    "Tom's" hatred against black people is clearly shown through his words. He's rather kill himself than acknowledge that he himself is a nigger.

    P5-5

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  6. Chapter 13

    (p76) "Tom" then begins to mock Pudd'nhead's interest in palmistry. The twins interrupt him, mentioning that their palms were read several years ago and that most of what the palm reader had to say has come true. "Tom" is surprised, and Pudd'nhead is asked to read the twins' palms. Luigi records the previous palmreader's predictions on a piece of paper that is not shown to Pudd'nhead. To everyone's surprise, Pudd'nhead's reading matches what Luigi has written down: Luigi has killed a man. Angelo quickly tells the group that Luigi did it to save his brother's life, and draws a picture of the weapon Luigi used, a magnificent Indian dagger covered in symbols. He still has the knife in his possession, he tells the men, and its sheath is covered with precious gems. "Tom" is secretly thankful for this information: he has stolen the knife, but thought that the jewels were just glass and had been ready to sell it for a pittance. Pudd'nhead takes "Tom"'s hand and offers to read it, but "Tom" jerks it away defensively. He says that he has nothing to be afraid of, since he isn't a murderer. He then quickly begs Luigi's pardon for his hasty comment.

    P5-18

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  7. Chapter 14

    The next morning Judge Driscoll and Pembroke Howard, the lawyer, go fishing. They encounter another man, who tells the judge about "Tom"'s encounter with Luigi and mentions that "Tom" had Luigi brought before the town court for assault and battery. The judge is mortified that "Tom" has compromised the family honor by not fighting back, as the son of an old Virginia family should. When the judge encounters "Tom" that night he orders him to challenge Luigi to a duel. "Tom" seems afraid of Luigi and refuses, causing the judge to disinherit him once again. The judge then issues a challenge of his own to Luigi. "Tom" is distraught and begins making plans to pay off his debts and regain his uncle's favor. He goes to see Pudd'nhead Wilson, who tells him that his uncle's desire to behave honorably is correct. Pudd'nhead berates "Tom" for not consulting his uncle about the matter immediately after the offending kick.

    P5-18

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  8. sorry read how to do the assignment wrong.....

    P5-18

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  9. Chapter 13

    "Tom" begins to mock puddin' head wilson. Then they go to read Tom's hand but tom jerks his hand away. This is acknowledging that "tom" has killed someone but hes trying to hide it.

    P5-18

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  10. Chapter 14

    "Tom" and Luigi were brought down to court because they had been sentenced for assult and battery. The judge then challenges luigi to a duel, but tom wont fight because of family honor. This is showing that he takes honor very seriously.

    P5-18

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  11. Chapter 21 finger printing/palmistry/forensics

    There is a pivotal scene where Wilson is using his hobby of taking other people's prints and using them to identify the murderer, who is Tom.

    Conclusion genetics v. environment/nature v. nurture

    When the real heir is put back into his rightful position, the effects of how he was raised and where he was raised rubs off on him, making it that he is now an extremely embarrassed man that acts like a slave but is really a free white man.

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  12. chapter 4

    "...he was a more consummate pest than ever. Roxy got no sleep while he was awake. He would call for anything and everything he saw, simply saying, 'Awnt it'! (want it), which was a command
    It shows that tom was superior to roxy. Roxy had to do everything tom said because she was the slave


    Chapter 4

    "In babyhood Tom cuffed and banged and scratched Chambers unrebuked..."

    Chambers couldn't hurt tom because tom was white. If chambers hurt tom, he would be punished

    p6-2

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  13. Palmistry in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson

    Chapter 11

    (page 61) Pudd'nhead Wilson mapped out Luigi's character and disposition, his tastes, aversions, proclivities, ambitions, and eccentricities using palmistry. This was correct to the point that the twins laughed at the results. At the end, both twins declared that Pudd'nhead Wilson was an outstanding palm reader. This summary provides evidence of palmistry by the use of it for finding everything about Luigi.

    P-17

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  15. Reputation
    In Chapter 17, Judge Utters Dire is a very crafty person. He really focus on his reputation. He try to against people to get his money, persuade voter and so called honor.
    For example
    “Tom’s conduct had remained so letter-perfect during two whole moths now, that his uncle not only trusted him with money with which to persuade voter, but trusted him to go and get it himself out of the safe in the private sitting room”
    “ Judge Utters Dire said he believed that the reward offered for the lost knife was humbug and bunkum, and that its owner would know where to find it whenever he should have occasion to assassinate somebody.”
    In those two example, Judge Utters Dire try to do something that against foreigners, and get his vote, money, and honor.

    Parents-children relationship
    After Tom kill person, his mother come to talk with him. His mother really worry about him, and Tom felt something when his mother talk with him.
    For example
    “Roxana began to cry softly, and presently began to find their way out between her sobs. They were uttered lamentingly, rather than angrily”
    “Sell a pusson down de river-DOWN DE RIVER!—for de bes! I wouldn’t treat a dog so! I is all broke down and en wore out now, en so I reckon it ain’t in me to sstorm aroun’ no mo’, like I used to when I ‘uz trompled on en ‘bused. I don’t know—but maybe it’s so. Leastways so much dat mournin’ seem to come mo’ handy to me now de storing.
    These words should have touched Tom Driscoll”

    P5-20

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  16. p5-14 Identity Ch.6
    "Ole Missus, de house of plum' jam full o' people, en dey's jes a-spi'lin' to see de gen'lemen!" She indicated the twins with a nod of her head, and tucked it back out of sight again.
    The town didn't have very many visitors in their small town. They had never had nobility and the twins said they were of Florentine Nobility.

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  17. Identity
    Chapter 3

    She switches the infants so that if anyone is sold down the river, it will not be her biological child. "Tom grows into a terrible brat. He is fussy, sickly and abusive to "Chambers", who is exact opposite of "Tom". "Chambers is beaten whenever he fights back.

    P6-34

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  18. P1-7
    Chapter 14-Honor p.82-83
    .... "The old man tried to get me to fight one with Count Luigi, but he didn't succeed, so I reckon he concluded to patch up the family honor himself."
    This shows the lack of Honor of Tom but shows the Honor for York Driscoll.
    Chapter 14- parent-child relationship p.83-86
    Throughout these pages Tom Driscoll and the mother of Tom fight about Tom's honor. The mother wants Tom to show honor for the family, but every time Tom doesn't want to follow his mother's advice.

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  19. P7-22

    Chapter 21- Theft/Stealing
    "Much stress has been laid upon the fact that the accused offered a very large reward for the knife with which this murder was done; that no thief came forward to claim that extraordinary reward; that the latter fact was good circumstantial evidence that the claim that the knife had been stolen was vanity and fraud..."

    This quote is showing that even though a very large reward was offered, no one stepped forward to confess. They made an assumption that the claim was expressed more dramatically than it really was.

    Conclusion- Reputation
    "The twins were heroes of romance, now, and with rehabilitated reputations. But they were weary of Western adventure, and straightway retired to Europe."

    This quote is showing that the twins were accused for many things in the past, but they had now made a comeback. They eventually got elected, and their reputations were restored in a positive manner.

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  20. Money
    In the Conclusion, even though Tom was dressed in fancy clothes, his attire could not hide his “defects”. Page 135 says “His gait, his attitudes, his gestures, his bearing, his laugh - all were vulgar and uncouth; his manners were the manners of a slave. Money and fine clothes could not mend these defects or cover them up; they only made them more glaring and the more pathetic.”

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  21. Chapter 9 Parent-Child Relationship

    "'Dats one thing you's got to stop, Valet de Chambers. You can't call me Roxy, same as if you was my equal. Chillen don't speak to dey mammies like dat. You'll call me ma or mammy, dat's what you'll call me---leastways when de ain't nobody aroun'. Say it!'"

    The relationship between "Tom" and Roxy was not the healthiest one. When "Tom" first found out that Roxy was his mom, he was shocked and struggled to accept it. However, after a while he did come to respect her and to listen and obey all of her schemes.

    P1-5

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  22. Chapter 19
    Betrayal
    "Tom stopped instantly—stopped, and softly drew the knife
    from its sheath, with his heart thumping, and his eyes fastened
    upon his benefactor’s face. After a moment or two he
    ventured forward again—one step—reached for his prize and
    seized it, dropping the knife sheath. Then he felt the old man’s
    strong grip upon him, and a wild cry of “Help! help!” rang in
    his ear. Without hesitation he drove the knife home—and
    was free. Some of the notes escaped from his left hand and
    fell in the blood on the floor. He dropped the knife and
    snatched them up and started to fly; transferred them to his
    left hand, and seized the knife again, in his fright and confusion,
    but remembered himself and flung it from him, as being
    a dangerous witness to carry away with him."

    By killing Driscoll, "Tom" betrayed Driscoll's trust towards him. He betrayed probably the only person who cared about him just to get his hands on some "notes". "Tom" had also betrayed, or gone against, Roxy's instructions.

    P1-10

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  23. Ch.19 Identity
    "Tom" decides he is going to need a disguise in his plot to rob Judge Driscoll. So, he dresses himself in women's clothing.

    Ch.19 Betrayal
    After Roxana's plan to be sold into slavery doesn't work, she commands "Tom" to get enough money to bail her out. This eventually leads "Tom" to betray his own uncle by robbing and murdering him.

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  24. Reputation in Mark Twain’s Puddn’head Wilson
    Chapter 5
    “He brought back one or two new habits with him, one of which he rather openly practiced-tippling- but concealed another, which was gambling. It would not do to gamble where his uncle could hear of it; he knew that quite well.” (Twain 28)
    “Tom” wanted to keep a good reputation with his uncle, less his uncle become enraged and does something drastic. He chose to hide secrets from his uncle, just to keep a good reputation with him.
    P1-3

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  25. Social Status in Mark Twain’s Puddn’head Wilson

    Chapter 6

    “A few tried to rise to the emergency, and got out an awkward ‘My lord,’ or ‘Your lordship,’ or something of that sort, but the great majority were overwhelmed by the unaccustomed word and its dim and awful associations with gilded courts and stately ceremony and anointed kingship, so they only fumbled through the handshake and passed on, speechless.” (Twain 34)

    The people of the town were unfamiliar with having people with such high social status as the twins in their presence. They were awkward and uncomfortable with the twins and had a rushed greeting because of their social status.

    P1-3

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  26. Tom Stares at Ruin
    Ch. 13

    Theft/Stealing

    "'. . . Judge Driscoll's old silver watch is gone, and Tom here has missed a gold ring'" "Tom" has been stealing and the everyone is starting to notice. And once they bring up the Indian dagger "Tom" can only think how unlucky he is to have stolen that and he might be found with it.

    P2

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  27. Honor in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson

    Chapter 15

    "Tom Driscoll was not happy over these things; they sunk deep, and hurt all the way down. He hated the one twin for kicking him, and the other one for being his brother."

    Tom refused to duel Luigi, which was considered a sign of cowardice to his family. His honor was depleted by the twins, so he hated them and wanted to somehow take revenge.

    P1-19

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  28. Social Status in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson

    Chapter 17

    "Their popularity,so general at first, had suffered afterward; mainly because they had been TOO popular, and so a natural reaction had followed."

    The twins, after they lost the election against Judge Driscoll, had nothing to do with society anymore. They avoided people and spent most of their time in privacy, and only would come out at night when no one would be around.

    P2 - (?)

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  29. Betrayal in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson

    Chapter 16

    "So Tom argued with himself that it was an immense advantage for Roxy to have a master who was pleased with her, as this planter manifestly was… And then he (Tom) kept diligently saying to himself all the time: 'It's for only a year. In a year I buy her free again; she'll keep that in mind, and it'll reconcile her.' Yes; the little deception could do no harm, and everything would come out right and pleasant in the end, anyway."

    Tom tried to convince himself that selling his mother "down the river" was fine. He betrayed her by doing this because he didn't take her feelings into account, and her thoughts on the situation didn't matter a whole lot to him.

    P1-19

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  30. Betrayal in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson

    Chapter 18

    "He sole me down de river - he can't feel for a body long; dis'll pass en go."

    In this part of the chapter, Roxy is happy for a second that Tom seems to be grieving for her wrongs and seems to be having resentment against her prosecutors, but her happiness soon disappears. Roxy is still distraught over the fact that her own son sent her down the river, and feels a sense of betrayal.

    P2 - (?)

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  31. Chapter 3

    "Oh, I got to kill my chile, dey ain't no other way---killin' him wouldn't save de chile fum goin' down de river." This is a parent-child relationship because she cares about her child and she wants to do what is best for him. She knows a life down the river would be hard.
    "By this time she had stripped off the shirt. Now she clothed the naked little creature in one of Thomas 'a Becket's snowy, long baby gowns, with its bright blue bows and dainty flummery of ruffles." This part of the story is an example of theft. Its stealing because she switched the babies.

    P1-2

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  32. Honor in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson

    Chapter 12

    "A coward in my family! A Driscoll a coward! oh, what have I done to deserve this infamy!" (p.71) This shows the judge as a protector of his family honor and as a result in the paragraph he stagered to his secretary in the corner and repeatedly ripped a piece of paper into bits, while repeating the lament again and again.

    P2-(not sure)

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  33. Chapter 7
    Betrayal
    "...he went away satisfied that he know of things that were going on in her house of which she herself was not aware."
    Its betrayal because after how nice judge driscoll and his wife have been to Pudd'nhead, he should have told them that there was something wrong going on in their house.

    P2-(I don't know) (I sit behind Jackie in class)

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  35. Chapter 8
    Race
    "Who gave you permission to come and disturb me with the social attentions of niggers?" (42)
    Tom is being very racist to Chambers, who is actually white, not black. He is acting like the alpha over chambers because he doesn't know that if everyone knew their lives were switched, he'd be living the negro life instead of the rich/high maintenance life.

    P2- (sit behind Jackie in class)

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  36. Chpt. 3

    She stepped over and glanced at the other infant ; she flung a glance back at her own ; then one more at the heir of the house. Now a strange light dawned in her eyes, and in a moment she was lost in thought. She seemed in a trance ; when she came out of it she muttered, " When I 'uz a-washin' 'em in de tub, yistiddy, his own pappy asked me which of 'em was his'n."

    This is an identity conflict because Roxy had found barely any differences of the looks of baby Tom and Chambers and decided to switch them to protect her child. This has caused an identity mix-up throughout the story.

    P1-13

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  37. Chpt. 4

    "Judge Driscoll had gone privately to his brother, a month before, and bought Chambers. He had heard that Tom had been trying to get his father to sell the boy down the river..."

    This shows a racial conflict because "Tom" is white, but "Chambers" is considered black. So Tom plans to sell "Chambers" down the river since he is also considered a slave because of his race.

    P1-13

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  38. Chapter 13
    "She's a stoop-shouldered old woman with a covered basket on her arm, in a black veil, dressed in mourning. I saw her going aboard the ferry about yesterday..."I reckon; but I don't care where she lives, I'm going to get her--she can make herself sure of that."
    Identity
    What this portrays is that Wilson thought that the woman was the one who stole the Indian dagger. He first assumed that she was the one just because the way she dressed.
    P1-18

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  39. Identity in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson
    Chapter 3
    "She undressed Thomas 'a Becket, stripping him of everything, and put the tow-linen shirt on him. She put his coral necklace on her own child's neck. Then she placed the children side by side, and after earnest inspection she muttered: 'Now who would b'lieve clo'es could do de like o' dat? Dog my cats if it ain't all I kin do to tell t' other fum which, let alone his pappy.'"
    This quote shows that Roxy switched her baby and Mr. Driscoll's baby's identity in an attempt to save her own child from being sold "down the river." Her plan is successful because nobody, not even Mr. Driscoll, notices the switch of identities throughout the story until Pudd'nhead Wilson does some research for his clients in later chapters. This act of Roxy’s caused some major problems, later in the story, for many people.
    P7-24

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  40. Race in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson
    Chapter 4
    "Tom got all the petting, Chambers got none. Tome got all the delicacies, Chambers got mush and milk, and clabber without sugar."
    This quote shows that completely white people were treated much better than those who had even just a little black blood in them. As a result of this difference in treatment, "Tom" grew up to be very whiny and dishonest while "Chambers" grew up to be kind and hardworking.
    P7-24

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  42. Chapter 13
    Pudd'nhead Wilson starts getting mocked by Tom. When Pudd'nhead Wilson suspects it's one of the twins because he never got there finger prints a couple of years ago. Then Tom was surprised that Pudd'nhead thinks it's one of the twins.and not him. When Pudd'nhead tries to grab Toms' hand to make a finger print he pulls his hand away fast. (P.76)
    P7-24

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  44. Chapter 14
    The next day the Tom and Luigi were taken to court because they were both sentenced for battery and assault. Then the judge challenges Luigi and Tom to a dual. But Tom refuses to dual because of his honor. Which means he want to prove honor for his mom. (P.83-86)
    P7-18

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  48. "Parent-Child Relationships in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson."
    “Dat’s one thing you’s got to stop, Valet de Chambers. You
    can’t call me Roxy, same as if you was my equal. Chillen don’t
    speak to dey mammies like dat. You’ll call me ma or mammy,
    dat’s what you’ll call me—leastways when de ain’t nobody aroun’.
    Say it!” (p. 49)

    This quote reflects that when someone has experience the type of situation Roxy and “Tom” have, it is difficult to have a parent-child like relationship. So when “Tom” discovers that Roxy is his mother and she demands to have the respect of a parent, it is hard for “Tom” because of the racial barrier and time gap that exists between them.

    P7-16

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  49. Money in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson.

    “Chambers, how much is you in debt?”
    Tom shuddered, and said:
    “Nearly three hundred dollars.”
    “How is you gwine to pay it?”
    Tom groaned out: “Oh, I don’t know; don’t ask me such
    awful questions.”

    Money becomes the center of “Tom’s” life. He gets in a big complication with gambling and ends up in a big debt. But when Roxy and the Capello twins come into the pictures, the money problems just get bigger. He becomes a thief and is sure that this will help him. At the end, that is what ruins him.

    Ch 9-10

    P7-16

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  50. Chapters 3-4
    Parent Child Relationships
    "Her child could grow up and be sold by the river! The thought crazed her with horror"
    The paranoia of her son being sold by the river is evident; she gets so frightened that she commits an act that can be classified as an act of insanity. She switched out her child with someone else's!
    P2-2

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  51. CHAPTER 8 and 9 had a lot to do with social statues and reputation as the twins got more respect tom got deeper in the pit of trouble with his gambling and drinking

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