Life on the Mississippi

Life on the Mississippi

Theme

Bobbie insists on the themes of suffering and dependence as well as happiness. He states that she was with her mother and grandmother, who were shelling beans. At this moment, she had not healed from the death of Beth. There was fear about the failure of crops, and therefore food was treated as a rare commodity. Scarcity of food in the region caused people to depend on nature to bring its fortunes majorly. There was a high dependency on natural forces as a source of livelihood to the people. Bobbie writes that it was this sense of helplessness and dependency that made her rebellious. Women were highly dependent, and farmers did not take initiatives to solve the problem of food scarcity. However, happiness came in when the author and her family members went to town and experienced the beautiful life in the town (Mason 149).

Just like in Bobbie’s story, Mark, in his book, Life on the Mississippi, mainly insists on the themes of suffering and happiness. Mark first starts by talking about the theme of hope where he states that him, together with his comrades, had a collective ambition of becoming steam boatman. Then, he goes ahead and describes the different scenarios in his town. There were times when no boat would approach, and this brought emptiness and the city was dead. There was nobody in the streets, and the area was lonely and quiet, though it was peaceful. Then came to a boat appeared, and everything changed instantly. The streets were filled with people who streamed in from their houses. There were noise and some sense of happiness, and suddenly the dead town became alive again. People gathered themselves in one place, the pier and would have the magnificent view of the incoming boat. Once the ship is ashore, people scramble to alight while others struggle to get aboard. After a while, the ship is gone, and the town is dead again (Twain 120).

Additionally, while Bobbie Ann focusses on comparing lifestyles between the town and country, Mark Twain discusses how social background affected the acquisition of a job in the boat. Ann compares life in the city with that of the country. In the countryside, where she belonged, they were self-sufficient, that is, they used to farm for their food and made their clothes as compared to those in town who bought their food and clothes. Despite being resourceful, self-sufficient and owning pieces of land, the people in the countryside were faced with psychological poverty. She starts to realize that there was a great life in town, unlike in the country. She also realizes that they were not poor as they thought because they owned pieces of land, had school and home clothes and even ate good food which mainly came from the farm. While the food in the country was primarily natural and gotten from the farm, the food in the town was better, Ann suggests. There were pleasure centres in the city, such as barbecue and hamburger places and movie places. Life was completely different in town, and there were places where one could buy different kinds of things. The smell in these places was pleasant and made her happier (Mason 150).

On the other hand, Mark brings out the different social classes in the region and how it affected the ambitions of becoming steam boatman. He states that the sons of high-class individuals such as ministers, doctors, postmaster, chief merchants, wholesale liquor dealers and county judge had the best chances of obtaining jobs in fields such as pilot, engineer, mud clerks, and barkeeper in the boat. On the other hand, sons of ordinary people, such as the author, did not have the opportunity to live up to their dreams. Mark then becomes hopeless, and his ambitions are shattered to death. Luckily enough, he finds solace in being a traveller where he gains great recognition and becomes famous (Twain 121).

Furthermore, while Bobbie describes the differences in the roles of women and men in society, Mark majorly looks at the theme of power and work in the boat. Bobbie brings out clearly the role of women and men in society. The women were responsible for cooking or preparing food for the men as well as taking care of the children. Men, on the other hand, were the ones working in the field to produce food (Mason 150). On the contrary, Mark brings about the theme of power. While an average landsman would softly give an order, Mark’s mate, who was not an ordinary landsman, would give directory orders and would feel all the majesty of his superior position. He would give his orders, discharging it like a lightning blast and everybody would be listening to him. There were different work positions in the boat, including engineer, mud clerks, barkeeper in the boat as well as a pilot which was the highest position in the boat (Twain 122).

Mood

Bobbie brings out different moods in different places. In the countryside, she felt hopeless and fearful because there was fear of crop failure. There was also high dependence on natural forces to provide food; that is, farmers did not take the initiative. On the contrary, Bobbie was cheerful and very happy when she visited the town. There were many places to buy food, movie shops, barbecue and hamburger places which made her happy. Tasty and sweet food items such as ice cream brought joy to her. The smell in these places was excellent and perfect for her (Mason 151).

Just like Bobbie, Mark brings out different moods on different occasions. He brings out a depressed and lonely mood when there was no boat approaching. The streets were so quiet and empty. On the other hand, when a boat approached, there was a cheerful and hopeful mood. The roads were once again filled with people and were noisy. Similarly, Mark becomes hopeless when he realizes he cannot fulfil his ambitions. Luckily enough, he finds refuge in travelling and calms down (Twain 123).

Tone

Bobbie sounds anxious, worried and depressed while talking about food insecurity in the country. She is so disappointed that the farmers are not taking the initiative to curb the issue of food scarcity but highly dependent on nature to offer food. She is also worried that women are highly dependent on men to provide food and other basic needs for the family (Mason 149). On the other hand, Ann is excited to go to town and feels that life in the city is lovely and beautiful as compared to the country. On the other hand, Mark is upset and angry about a guard who he describes as half-witted humbug, sentimental, ignorant, and vulgar who made up and narrated a story from nowhere (Twain 124).

Work Cited

Mason, Bobbie Ann. Being Country.

Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi. Penguin, 1984.