Honor is connected to reputation, but it worth separating out as a separate concept. The duel in Puddn'head Wilson is an event particularly associated with the concept of honor. (For more information about dueling and honor, check out this Smithsonian article.)
What do the duel and other events in Puddn'head Wilson reveal about honor?
Honor in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson
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"Tom Driscoll" was kicked by one of the Italian twins, then took them to court and won the case, bringing shame to his uncle, York Driscoll. York told "Tom" to duel Luigi Capello to bring honor back to his family, but "Tom" was too scared to do this, so he refused. Taking matters into his own hands, Judge Driscoll set up a duel to fight the twins to try to show the town that he was an honorable man. Roxy talks to "Tom" about the fact that he was too much of a coward to duel the Italian. She was disgraced by his cowardice and gave him a lecture before sitting down to cool off.
This shows how much honor meant to these people. York Driscoll was willing to put his life at risk to duel the twins only for the sake of his honor. Roxy was ashamed that her son was too fearful to duel Luigi on his own and take care of himself. She was ashamed that he had no honor; he only looked for ways to cheat and save his own neck. It seems that, generally, these people cared a lot about honor.
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Honor in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson.
"Tom slumped to his knees and began to beg..."(p.46)
Tom thinks he is "white," so dropping down to his knees and begging might have hurt his pride. His honor was would have disapered the moment he got on his knees.
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Chapter 15
ReplyDeleteHonor in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson
"Tom" tries to make amends to Judge Driscoll by saying he did not want to fight because he knew Luigi was a murderer. It shows "Tom" does not care about lying. It also shows that "Tom" does not have a lot of honor, or else he ewould have not lied to his " uncle" for his own gain.
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Chapter 15
ReplyDeleteHonor is important to Judge Driscroll and shows us when Tom shows respect to Driscroll by not fighting his Luigi. Tom goes and repairs his friendship with Judge Driscroll by telling him that he wouldn't fight him because he was the murderer. Driscroll thanks him for respecting his honor.
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Chapter 17
ReplyDelete"...he 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 assasinate somebody." (P. 100)
These words from Judge Driscoll, hurt the twins honor in such a way that made them loose the campaign. Using these words to end, he set them up, meaning to surprise them, which was very effective. His refusal to acknowledge the meaning of the comment afterward, only helped Wilson, and proved to be a sound strategy for Wilson's campaign.
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Honor in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson
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"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.
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Chapter 14
ReplyDelete"Now tha'ts right York,--but I knew you would do it. You couldn't leave that poor chap to fight along without means or profession, with certain defeat before him, and I knew you wouldn't for his father's sake if not for his own"
It looks like that York is more than willing to take his place for the dueling. He did it for their honor.
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Chapter 12
ReplyDelete"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.
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Chapter 14
ReplyDeleteTom and Luigi are taken to court by the judge and he tells Tom and Luigi to challenge each other. Tom refuses to the judge that he doesn't want to challenge because he remembers what Roxy told him to keep there families honor. This explains that his honor is important to him because of his father's honor.
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Chapter 14
ReplyDeleteLuigi accepts the Judges offer to a duel. The Judge then tells Luigi that he is not worthy of his help.
This is honor because you need respect for someone to honor a person. The Judge shows that he has no respect for Luigi because of what he said.
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