Two Views of the River

Mark Twain is an excellent example of a Regionalist writer. Twain creates a vivid portrayal of the region he lives in. In “Two Views of the River” Twain describes how he used to be awed by the majesty and splendor of the river, and the beauty of the sunset on the water. Now however, he has grown used to the beauty of the river. He no longer sees the magical qualities he once thought it possessed. Twain writes, “A day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the river’s face.”(Twain 505) Before this Twain had described how the sun was, “enriching it, every passing moment, with new marvels of coloring.”(Twain 505) In the beginning of the time Twain spent living on the river he was mesmerized by every passing second of beauty the river produced. Now that he had lived there for some time the river had grown dull to him. Mark Twain now sees the dangers and the bad things that the river possess or warns about. He writes, “that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody’s steamboat one of these nights.”(Twain 505) Instead of noticing the beauty as he originally had, he now sees the bad things that come from the river.

Ralph Waldo Emerson would have been enraged by the way Mark Twain wrote. In “Nature” Emerson writes, “Most persons do not see the sun. At the least they have a very superficial seeing.”(Emerson 191) The superficial meaning Emerson refers to would be the way Twain sees the river after he had lived there for some time. Emerson is coming down on people that get used to the life they live everyday. The people who do not see the beauty in where they live or what they do because they have grown used to it. Twain on the other hand is simply displaying his Regionalist characteristics. He is telling the reader the simple truth.

Emerson, W. Ralph. "From Nature." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Twain, Mark "Two Views of the River." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.