Mark Twain's The Five Blessings of Life
Mark Twain's The Five Blessings of Life introduces the audience to the most basic aspirations that humans have. These are the following desires: fame, fortune, pleasure, love, and death. A fairy asks a question to a young person who has been given the opportunity to choose a gift. The kid selects one gift, goes out to experience it, and is crushed by its consequences. The fairy returns often, expecting that the youth will choose the proper gift, but the consequences are the same. Death was the last of the five gifts. The fairy does not bestow this gift on the youth, instead leaving him to endure the consequences of his decisions. In think the use of a young person symbolizes the lack of moral principle among the youth. Interestingly, the use of a fairy introduces fantasy and this serves to embody a deity, responsible for what human beings receive on earth.
The historical context of 'The five boons of life'
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, commonly known by his pseudonym, Mark Twain, was born in 1835 in Missouri. He and his family later moved to Hannibal and so began his love for the Mississippi river. Death was rampant in that period of time. Mark Twain himself lost his sister Margaret to a fever and his brother Benjamin died too. In 1847, John Clemens, Mark Twain's father died of Pneumonia contributing to their financial instability: "John Clemens was a man of dignity and good standing in the community but at his death in 1847, he left his family very little" (Emmerson, 1999, p. 2).
Violence and death were never far from Twain's life. He witnessed the drowning of one of his friends in the river. While fishing with some of his friends, he discovered the drowned and mutilated body of a runaway slave. Orion, Twain's brother began publishing a weekly newspaper with the apprenticeship of Mark Twain. Later, Twain briefly became an apprentice to Horace Bixby, a riverboat captain. During the Civil war, he joined a group of a dozen men back in Hannibal though the group of soldiers disbanded after two weeks of inactivity and retreating from Union troops. Mark Twain once declared to his brother that he had a call to humorous literature. The mature life of Mark Twain was also plagued by death. His first child succumbed to Diphtheria: "A son, Langdon, was born in November 1870, but the boy was frail and would die of diphtheria less than two years later" (Quirk, 2010, p. 5).
Mark Twain's family seemed to all suffer one ailment after another. His wife died in June 5, 1905: He would have yet another occasion to publish his grief. "His daughter Jean died on December 24, 1909" (Quirk, 2010, p. 8). This brought about some of the most serious works by Mark Twain regarding God. Only one child outlived him.
The historical insights to, 'The Five boons of life'
The 'Five boons of life' is one of the serious and critical stories written by Mark Twain. It centers mainly criticizing human choices. It was written in the more advanced years of Twain where he faced considerable losses in finances and also loved ones. The choices the youth makes when given the gifts blankets all human beings as being greedy and thoughtless. In my opinion, I do not hold it against the author considering that he grew up in the slave town of Hannibal, Missouri. The horrors of slave trade etched itself in his life, more so the occasion where he discovered a mutilated body of a fugitive slave in the river.
Mark Twain's fascination with God and His omnipotence stemmed from the subsequent loss of loved ones in his life. His father, some siblings, his wife and some children sums up some of the losses he had. I believe the fairy in the story to represent an omnipotent deity such as God who introduces strife into the otherwise peaceful life of this anonymous youth. In the story, the fairy approached the youth and not the other way around. Twain puts God on trial for creating these gifts and freely introducing them to the world to bring misery to people.
Human beings are in no way safe from Twain's criticism. The youth made all the wrong choices despite being given more chances to redeem himself. The last gift for the youth to pick was death but he was not allowed to. This resembles Mark Twain's predicament after the death of his daughter Jean. Following her death Twain wrote, "Would I bring her back to life if I could do it? I would not.... In her loss I am almost bankrupt, and my life is bitterness, but I am content; for she has been enriched with the most precious of all gifts.... death" (Plotkin, 2008, p. 2). In this, we see the close connection between Twain and his work.
Themes
The main theme put forward is human desire. Desire is condemned even in religions. At the time Twain was alive, slavery was at its peak. Mark Twain as earlier stated had no ill will. towards slavery in his earlier days but later came to think of it as unruly and against humanity. The desire for men to completely rule over other men did not appeal to Twain. Another theme is the choices human beings make. The author is pessimistic and one can decipher that he means to clarify the reality that nothing good exists on earth. He further explains that human beings have little control over these five forces that run this earth and that in the end they always end up devastating people. It is evident that the author encourages human beings to choose death and sorrow over any joy to be gotten from this earth
Relevance to audience
Audiences range from all ages. The main importance that can be attached to this story is the harsh criticism allocated to selfish desires. The youth can relate to that considering that the protagonist was a youth. Human desires are all not bad but thanks to Twain, we know how to choose for ourselves. It signifies the importance of sound decisions. The story introduces a new dimension to audiences on the belief of God and His function in our lives. It challenges people not to foolishly accept but to ask questions in order to understand deities.
Personal insights
The story is intriguing but it lacks in clearly cut-out instruction. In one part, the author uses a youth to show the folly of human desires. In each choice, the youth made it ended sadly for him. Does the author mean to say that no human being should take pleasure in love or fame or wealth? I think the author underestimates the power in human beings to make the right decisions if bestowed upon all the gifts mentioned. Twain's resignation to die should also not be a fate to be considered as acceptable to all. If one man decides to die then let him die alone.
References
Emerson, E. (1999). Mark Twain: A literary life. Philadelphia, Pa: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.
Plotkin, D. (2008). Creator and fallen angel: the Christian atheism of Mark Twain. Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=1556763X&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA218606543&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=fulltext&authCount=1&isAnonymousEntry=true
Quirk, T. (2010). Mark Twain. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/mark-twain
Twain, M. (2016). The Five boons of Life. Retrieved from https://www.createspace.com/5983436
