[fantasyfan]

In the 1966 edition of Major Writers of America, Henry Nash Smith wrote a thoughtful general introduction to the section on Mark Twain. Among the work he discussed was A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. While Smith did not attempt an in-depth analysis of the book he made a number of points which contextualize the novel and which I personally found quite interesting and useful in exploring and evaluating the book.

Evidently Twain intended the novel to be “a burlesque of Malory’s Morte d’Arthur” and in the early chapters one can certain see evidence for this. But it clearly developed into an attempt by

“a vernacular hero . . . launched upon the magnificent adventure of transforming a sty of filth and poverty and superstition and tyranny into its polar opposite—an enlightened republic where industrialization will provide the material basis for comfort and general happiness.”

Hank Morgan fails utterly, as the Established church supports the monarchy and class system of the status quo.

The hero is surprised by this result and Smith goes on to make a very interesting extrapolation of this which I will quote at some length.

“He [Hank Morgan] is surprised by this outcome, and we must imagine that the author was to some extent surprised also. Mark Twain’s career had been sustained by a basic confidence in the sanity, health, and sturdiness of the mass of mankind. He had also assumed that technology was the peculiar possession of the common people as contrasted with the upper classes. Thus democracy and progress—especially the general enlightenment of mankind as a result of industrialization—had seemed o him so closely related that one could not be imagined without the other. But in the course of writing A Connecticut Yankee he had become aware that his assumptions might not be valid. . . . his loss of faith both in the soundness of the common people and in the benign effects of technology is unmistakable.”

If Smith is correct then this novel represents a significant move to the deeply bitter and pessimistic attitude in Twain's later work.

We do see signs of it in Huckleberry Finn. There is the violent attack on Christianity from the gullible stupidity of the camp meetings to the hypocrisy of the church-going Grangerfords who keep their guns near them during the service. Then there is the speech of Col. Sherburn who faces down the mob with the words:

“I know you clear through, I was born and raised in the South, and I’ve lived in the North, so I know the average all around. The average man’s a coward.”

By the time we get to “What Is Man?” (1906) Twain had come to the conclusion that humans are simply complicated automatons. The Mysterious Stranger which was not finalized by Twain when he died is probably the darkest work of fiction he wrote.

So how does A Connecticut Yankee work as a novel? I think it has moments of power—particularly the journey of Hank and Arthur—but as a whole it fails. There is a great deal of what is, in effect, sermonizing. Twain “tells” rather than “shows.” The hero is far too sure of himself and his values and we never see anyone engaging in the great dramas of conscience that we see in Huckleberry Finn. Of course Twain’s picture of The Middle Ages is absurd and bears little relsemblance to the reality. One can take the view that this isn’t important in that the purpose of the book is to show that the social structures of all ages are inherently oriented to supporting a privileged and parasitic upper class. But I don’t think that Twain anywhere in this book comes close to being as effective in developing this message as he had been in Huckleberry Finn. The characters lack depth and I quickly lost interest in them and this includes the narrator.

In the end I think this novel is a curiosity that throws light on Twain but it is not a major work.