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Mark Twain's The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg This essay will discuss one of the Mark Twain's short stories The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg. In the first part I will pay attention to the summary of the story and then discuss the idea of the tale. Hadleyburg is a little town which prides itself on its truthfulness. The municipality motto is "Lead Us Not Into Temptation. " The people of the town are very pompous of their honest reputation. Hadleyburg is not the authentic name of the town. Hadleyburg is representative of all small towns.
Perhaps, the reader might think, the story is even about the town where he lives as well. The ruler is about to present Hadleyburg with the "Most Incorruptible Prize. " On the same day that the proclamation of the impending honor is to be made, a mysterious bag of money shows up on the steps of Hadleyburg's city hall. A note attached to the bag states that its contents are to be given to a man from Hadleyburg who once helped a poor unfamiliar person who passed through town. According to the note, about $ 40, 000 worth of gold is in the bag and it should be given to the man who writes down the correct phrase that he made when he gave $ 20 to the outsider. The story then tells about the ways that three dissimilar couples deal with the temptation to claim the bag of cash for themselves.
The reader soon discovers that it's much easier to be truthful if you aren't tempted. It is a much more difficult matter to look temptation directly in the eye and not lose your ethical bearings. Mark Twain's The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is a story with a definite moral or lesson to be learned. The lessons in the story are presented to the reader as a parable, much like a parable of the Bible. Mark Twain's The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is a modern parable similar to the stories and parables of the Bible.
The similarities between the Bible and The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg began in the first paragraph of the story... it (Hadleyburg) began to teach the principles of honest dealing to its babies in the cradle, and made the like teachings the staple of their culture thenceforward through all the years devoted to their education (Twain 1307). The old testament Jews would teach their children their beliefs in God and the oral traditions, when the babies were still in their cradles. They would know from very young their origins and beliefs. But, like the people of Hadleyburg the Jews early education did not stop them from going astray. There is a similarity between the trials and temptations of the townspeople and the trials and temptations of Job in the Bible.
In the bible Job was a person who believed in God. Satan tempted Job to curse God and he could have anything. Job refused and many bad things befell him. His wife died, he lost his home, money, friends, and even got boils, but he wouldnt curse God. Satan gave up on trying to tempt Job, and Job married again, and had more riches than before. Hadleyburg was put through a trial.
They were tempted with money and fame, but unlike Job they gave in to temptation. Mary Richards monologue sums up how the town did with their trial. Lead us not into... but-but-we are so poor, so poor! ... Lead us not into... Ah, who would be hurt by it? -and no one would ever know...
Lead us... (Twain 1311). An important comparison is between certain characters in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and the parable of The Good Samaritan in the Bible. A certain man went down from Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. (Luke 10: 30) The parable of the Good Samaritan is about a traveler who is beaten and robbed on a lonely road. A Pharisee passes by him and will not help him. Pharisees were wise and respected people of the community, and were many times hypocrite. They were good upstanding citizens when the public was watching, but they would not help a poor, hurt and helpless man in trouble.
The townspeople hide their true feelings behind a mask. All faces bore a look of peaceful, holy happiness (Twain 1313). Edward tells Mary he had the opportunity to help the Rev. Mr. Burgess, but he didnt, for fear of having the townspeople look down on him and turn against him. It is a confession.
I am ashamed, but I will make it. I was the only Man who knew he was innocent. I could have saved him, and-and-well, you know how the town was weight up-I hadnt the pluck to do it. It would have turned everybody against me. (Twain 1310) Mary also shows Pharisee like behavior when she tells Edward that she wouldnt have helped him either. I-I dont think it would have done for you to- to-One muster-public opinion-one has to be so careful-so- (Twain 1310). She is more concerned the publics opinion than her husbands well being.
The Good Samaritan in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is Barclay Goodson, and he is dead. He was the one person who would help a person in need. As Edward Richards said, He could have done it, and it would have been like him, but theres not another in the town (Twain 1309). He was an outcast, shunned by the other townspeople, but being popular to the townspeople was not important to him... I reckon he was the best-hated man among us, ... (Twain 1310). A Samaritan was a hated person in old Israel.
They were the descendants of Jews and another race. They were half Jewish and were not allowed to associate with other than Samaritans. The Town of Hadleyburg's corruption can be compared to the biblical parable of the two houses. Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. (Matt. 7: 24 - 27) The foolish man built his house on sand, while the wise man built his upon the rock.
The one with the firm foundation was the only one to survive a storm. The Storm in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is a series of events. The stranger comes to town with the mysterious bag. This is when the dark clouds start forming. When the rest of the town learns that a bag full of money is waiting for them to claim, the storm begins to build. The storm breaks during the townhall meeting when the 19 families are revealed as hypocrites.
In her book Katie Koster, wrote, First, Hadleyburg is established as an honest, upright, incorruptible town. (Koster, 265) Second, its very foundation of seeming incorrupt ability becomes questionable and finally falls amid much excitement which is depicted in language suggesting a storm. The Richards dialogue gives shows similarities between hadleyburg and a house with a weak foundation. Mrs. Richards compares Hadleyburg foundation to a foundation of a house of cards. I do believe that if ever the day comes that its (Hadleyburg's) honesty falls under great temptation, its grand reputation will go to ruin like a house of cards. (Twain 1312) Mrs. Richards later says But now- now that the foundations of things seem to be crumbling from under us, we-we...
Lead us not into temptation... I think you made the right promise, Edward. Let it rest so. Let us keep away from that ground. (Twain 1314) The ground is sand, a foundation that crumbles, and the town can not keep away from it because it was built on it. Mark Twain showed the fallibility of man in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg like a parable in the Bible would. The unjust are punished and the righteous, if there are any, are praised.
Mark Twain's The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is a modern parable similar to the stories and parables of the Bible. The main subject is how we define truthfulness. Can we claim to be sincere if we are never tempted? Even if we go out of our way to avoid temptation, does that mean we are truly frankness? Secondly, Twain seems to be saying that you can't begin to denounce someone for a character flaw, unless you know how you would act in their exact circumstances. The people of Hadleyburg are insincere for claiming to be the most truthful people in the state, and in turn implying that other citizens are not.
When the bag of gold shows up, the people of Hadleyburg quickly cave into enticement. Thirdly, the tale examines the subject of voracity. How much of our honesty and self-respect are we willing to give up for more wealth - or anything else that we greatly wish? Bibliography: Mark Twain The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain Bantam. Revised edition, 1990 de Koster, Katie Readings on Mark Twain. (Literary Companion to American Authors. ) San Diego: Green haven Press, 1996.
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