Omniscient Twain

Omniscient Twain

In Pudd’nhead Wilson, Mark Twain has taken the omniscient third person role and plays the novel’s narrator. Why did he do this? This point of view allows the reader to see the same story from thoughts of several characters. It also allows the author to insert more of his own thoughts into the story, slanting it more than is possible from other viewpoints. I believe Twain wrote fiction because he had things that he wanted to say. He apparently wasn’t interested in fine-tuning his writing style or even ensuring that everything meshed perfectly. He was interested in the story and in getting his point across.

How would it change the story to use a different point of view? I could easily see this novel written in either the voice of Roxy, by far the most interesting character, or in the voice of David Wilson. But, we would miss half of the story from either character.

The first paragraph of chapter one makes it clear to the reader instantly that the author is playing narrator:

“The scene of this chronicle is the town of Dawson’s Landing….”

He then goes on to describe the town and its history as someone who has an interest in the people and events but is not directly attached to the story. A first or close third person point of view from David Wilson would only begin from the time he moves into the town. This account would also be interesting, as a stranger stepping inside this old society oppressed by a quirky value system. His thoughts are made apparent from his calendar inscriptions at the beginning of each chapter, which gives the feeling that Wilson is a partial substitute for the narrator. His own values and thoughts seem very much related to the narrator’s and it’s not always clear which thoughts belong to whom. The problem with making Wilson the point of view character would be losing too much of Roxy. He would have no knowledge of her wanderings and talks with her son, or of her thoughts. And that would be a great loss to the story.

Roxy as the only point of view character would tell a completely different tale. The reader would get the benefit of knowing the thoughts of someone whose history is steeped in the town and who has a special vantage point of the inside workings, but we would lose much of “Tom’s” real character. As his mother, Roxy tends to see him in a too-positive light, constantly looking for the goodness inside. We would tend to feel more sympathy for him because his mother does. We would also lose Wilson’s musings and findings and calendar entries.

Something I found interesting about Twain’s use of omniscience is that it’s very hard to tell which characters are supposed to be protagonist and antagonist. My first thought was that Roxy is the protagonist, and “Tom” her antagonist. But a protagonist has to come to a better finish than Roxy was given. We are left wondering what happens to her and if finding her son to be a murderer changes her in any way. I also thought of David Wilson as the protagonist and a combination of his higher intelligence and the town’s general stupidity as his antagonist. We are never allowed to get close enough to Wilson, though, to truly empathize with him. Maybe Twain meant for “Tom” to be the protagonist. He is the character who changes the most and his story is brought to a complete end. Societal rules could be his antagonist, as well as the way his mother doted on him enough to completely spoil him useless.

However unlikely it seems at first, after contemplating the comments about human nature and the values, fake and true, of men, I tend to see “Chambers”, the real Tom, as my choice of protagonist. He is shown patiently putting up with “Tom” all through the beginning of their lives together, while he is the more personable of the boys. Then he all but disappears while “Tom’s” story is developed. I have to wonder if this was on purpose, to contrast the instigator with the quiet boy who never bothers anyone. The rightful inheritor of wealth and fortune turns out to be the one who quietly goes about his duties on earth without fussing or irritating others; who, after being given this wealth still prefers the humbleness of a regular workday and only the necessities of life. In my mind, “Chambers” has to be the hero – the protagonist. And Dawson’s Landing is his antagonist – the sample of the inanity of society.

For Pudd’nhead Wilson, the omniscient point of view was the best choice. Twain’s ability to see things from several perspectives makes him a natural at this type of writing.