Is there anything Twainy about democracy?

Through the use of playful satire, Mark Twain points out the flaws of government, (especially of democracy), in many of his short stories.  However, it is difficult to determine whether he is trying to convey an attitude of a reformist or if he is simply trying to explore how pathetic the world that we live in truly is.   One very violent demonstration of this approach is found in ‘Cannibalism in the Cars’.   In this story, Twain aims to explain how the government can use its strict procedures of routine to basically do whatever it wants.  In the outward appearance of the cannibalism of the story, the language and discourse of the procedure of electing which man they will eat helps to mask the pain behind the actual actions that they are committing, much like that of the real government.

            A second example of Twain’s approach in highlighting the problems in the government can be found in ‘The Facts in the Great Beef Contract’.  This story begins by explaining how there had once been a contract made in which a man by the name of Sherman was owed a sum of money by the government for transporting some beef during the civil war.  The contract was passed down through many people, all of whom died before retrieving the money.  Finally, the contract landed in the hands of the narrator, who started by asking the President of the United States about the contract, and was denied all the way down the line of succession to the “Commissioner of Odds and Ends”.  The way that the narrator addresses each of these authorities is a jab at the government on its own.  He calls them by names such as “Your Royal Highness”, “You Imperial Highness”, “Your August Excellency”, etc.  This makes a mockery of democracy, as it was intended to be a step away from the constraints of a monarchy; because the needs of our narrator are not being attended to as they were promised to be in the formation of the democracy, the government appears to reflect that of the monarchy.  This failed promise can also be represented by the beef contract that is never repaid.  In its formation, the democratic government of the United States claimed that it would be for the people and by the people.  As demonstrated by the failure to keep the promise of the beef contract, Twain aims to point out that the democracy has not kept its promise of tending to the needs of the people.

            A third and final example by Twain of exemplifying the glitches within the government that I will touch upon (but by no means the final example in Twain’s works), is found in “A Trail”.  The main character in the story, Captain Ned Blakely is a strong believer that “the first and last aim and object of the law and lawyers was to defeat justice” (Twain 102).  After the Captain’s mate, who was an African American whom he called his ‘pet’, was killed by Bill Noakes, The Captain wishes to kill Noakes as justification for what he had done.  The people however insist that a trial should be held in order to prove Noakes guilty.  Captian Ned exclaims that “Everbody says he killed the n-----, everybody knows he killed the n-----, and yet every lubber of you want him tried for it.  I don’t understand such bloody foolishness as that.” (Twain 104).  Twain seems to point out both the flaws in the judicial system (if everyone knows someone is guilty, why are they given a trial in which they could possibly be found innocent?), and also relates it to the fact that nobody is being held accountable for the horrendous act of slavery committed by people in this country.   Everybody knows what happened in slavery and everybody saw it, however nobody is accusing or trying the slave owners for what they had done.  Although the slaves had been emancipated, the terror that they had to go through was not being justified by the American government.   Finally, the narrator states, “They promised that they would create a court composed of captains of the best character; they would impanel a jury; they would conduct everything in a way becoming the serious nature of the business in hand, and give the case an impartial hearing and the accused a fair trial.” (Twain 105).  This again goes back to the idea of failed promises.  The government was supposed to uphold its end of a ‘contract of democracy’ with the people of the United States, and it continued to fail to do so as many groups of people were not being treated with justice as they were promised in such a contract.

Works Cited:

Twain, Mark.  The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain. Ed. Charles Neider. New York: Bantam Classic, 1957. Print.