Characters in Puddn'head Wilson earn money, steal money, gamble money, desire to inherit money, etc. What do the incidents involving money in the novel say about the role of money in our lives?
Near the end of the chapter, "Tom" needed money to buy Roxy back out of slavery. Roxy's plan was to ask Judge Driscoll for money, but instead of that, he planned to do something else. "I will not ask for money and ruin my self; I will rob the old skinflint."
The issue of money led "Tom" to decide to rob Judge Driscoll. Some people depend heavily on money and can lead them to do wrong things.
In this chapter, Tom is robbed of his stolen goods and is left in need of a great amount of money to pay off his debts. Roxy tells Tom to sell her down the river.
The issue of money turned "Tom"'s mind so he felt at ease selling his mother into slavery. This shows that money can corrupt someone as easily as power.
In this chapter, Roxy send Chambers to ask Tom if he would meet her. As he arrives Roxy asks Tom for a dollar and he gets really upset. As she sees what he does she then realizes that he has not changed from his old ways. She says that she will go and talk to his uncle and he realizes that she might know something so he begs her not to go and offers her five dollars instead of one. The issue of money in this chapter is that if tom had just given Roxy the dollar he wouldn't have had to give her five.
Money in this story is probably very scarce because Wilson acts very disgruntled when he suspects a thief is among his property, stealing his stuff. This incident leads me to believe that money is not plentiful because Wilson appears to take much care of his items, such in a way that he may not have the money to replace said articles. The time period also plays a part in this issue as money in 1830 was much harder to earn or come by, unless you had a sufficient paying job, which a lot of people lacked. Wilson even threatens to sell the thief for goods or money.
"Tom" goes over to Wilson's house for a gathering with Judge Driscroll, the twins, and Wilson. He pretends to the see the twins for the first time, although he had seen them previously when he was robbing a house. "Tom" had to rob houses to get money and pay his debts; because of his gambling problem. PS-17
"...and moved her kit ashore. But she was back in a hour. The bank had gone to smash and carried her four hundred dollars with it."
This shows that money isn't always constant and won't always be there for you. Roxy thought she had become rich, but within the blink of an eye, all of that hard-earned money went down the drain.
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.”
“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.
Chapter 15-16 Money Tom's things were stolen and he was left with no money or hardly any. His mother Roxy, being the mother she is, told him to do something horrible: sell her down the river. So he did. He only got some 600 dollars. This shows that money was hard to come across. p7-19
"Her income was only sufficient for he family support, and she needed the lodging money for trifling luxuries. But now, at last, on a flaming June day, she found herself happy; her tedious wait was ended;"
She was happy because she finally found someone to lodge in her large spare room. And the person who was going to lodge in her large room was someone in the North, St. Louis. So she was going to get a decent amount of money from her lodger.
Chapter 18
ReplyDeleteNear the end of the chapter, "Tom" needed money to buy Roxy back out of slavery. Roxy's plan was to ask Judge Driscoll for money, but instead of that, he planned to do something else. "I will not ask for money and ruin my self; I will rob the old skinflint."
The issue of money led "Tom" to decide to rob Judge Driscoll. Some people depend heavily on money and can lead them to do wrong things.
P5-9
Chapter 16
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, Tom is robbed of his stolen goods and is left in need of a great amount of money to pay off his debts. Roxy tells Tom to sell her down the river.
The issue of money turned "Tom"'s mind so he felt at ease selling his mother into slavery. This shows that money can corrupt someone as easily as power.
P6-14
Chapter 10
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, Roxy send Chambers to ask Tom if he would meet her.
As he arrives Roxy asks Tom for a dollar and he gets really upset. As she sees what he does she then realizes that he has not changed from his old ways. She says that she will go and talk to his uncle and he realizes that she might know something so he begs her not to go and offers her five dollars instead of one.
The issue of money in this chapter is that if tom had just given Roxy the dollar he wouldn't have had to give her five.
P6-16
Chapter 2
ReplyDeleteMoney in this story is probably very scarce because Wilson acts very disgruntled when he suspects a thief is among his property, stealing his stuff. This incident leads me to believe that money is not plentiful because Wilson appears to take much care of his items, such in a way that he may not have the money to replace said articles. The time period also plays a part in this issue as money in 1830 was much harder to earn or come by, unless you had a sufficient paying job, which a lot of people lacked. Wilson even threatens to sell the thief for goods or money.
P6-1
Chapter 11
ReplyDelete"Tom" goes over to Wilson's house for a gathering with Judge Driscroll, the twins, and Wilson. He pretends to the see the twins for the first time, although he had seen them previously when he was robbing a house.
"Tom" had to rob houses to get money and pay his debts; because of his gambling problem. PS-17
This is in the wrong place, its also in gambling.
DeleteChapter 8
ReplyDelete"...and moved her kit ashore. But she was back in a hour. The bank had gone to smash and carried her four hundred dollars with it."
This shows that money isn't always constant and won't always be there for you. Roxy thought she had become rich, but within the blink of an eye, all of that hard-earned money went down the drain.
P1-4
Money
ReplyDeleteIn 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.”
P2 - 11
Money in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson.
ReplyDelete“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
Chapter 9
ReplyDeleteMoney
"But Tom had only six dollars in the world". "Chambers, how much you in debt?" Tom shuddered, and said: "Nearly three hundred dollars."
It shows that Tom is having many money issues and is in debt with alot of money.
P7-5
Chapter 15-16
ReplyDeleteMoney
Tom's things were stolen and he was left with no money or hardly any. His mother Roxy, being the mother she is, told him to do something horrible: sell her down the river. So he did. He only got some 600 dollars. This shows that money was hard to come across.
p7-19
Chapter 5
ReplyDelete"Her income was only sufficient for he family support, and she needed the lodging money for trifling luxuries. But now, at last, on a flaming June day, she found herself happy; her tedious wait was ended;"
She was happy because she finally found someone to lodge in her large spare room. And the person who was going to lodge in her large room was someone in the North, St. Louis. So she was going to get a decent amount of money from her lodger.
P7-3