27 pages • 54 minutes read
Mark TwainA True Story
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1874A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Content Warning: This section references racism and enslavement.
Misto C at one point restates his initial question, “[H]ow is it that you’ve never had any trouble?” (591), reframing it as, “[Y]ou can’t have had any trouble?” (591). What about Aunt Rachel makes Misto C doubt his first assumption?
Mark Twain offers few details on Misto C and his family. With family a major note of Aunt Rachel’s story, why might Twain omit details of Misto C’s own family?
Ernest Hemingway famously said that all American literature comes from one book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Written nearly 20 years prior to that novel, “A True Story” features a similar setting and voice. What details of this story feel distinctly American and a precursor to Twain’s most famous work?
When the Union soldiers take over the house where Aunt Rachel is enslaved, she continues her work and is seemingly excited to cook for them. How does the narrative frame the attitudes of the Union soldiers to formerly enslaved people (or Black Americans generally)? What do Aunt Rachel’s actions suggest about her view of the Union or her understanding of her own situation?
How does Aunt Rachel’s gender impact her story? Why might Twain have chosen to tell the story of an enslaved woman specifically?
Aunt Rachel’s story constitutes the majority of this short story. Based on the text and the title, why does Twain choose to frame her narrative through the lens of Misto C? Support your answer with specific examples from the text.
In Misto C’s final appearance as narrator, he says that Aunt Rachel is “black against the stars” (592). Race and color feature prominently in this story both through metaphor and spoken dialogue. How do they contribute to the story’s meaning in this moment?
What elements of this story seem geared towards changing people’s minds and habits, bearing its publication date (1874) in mind?
Discuss the role that humor plays in the story. Is Aunt Rachel herself an object of humor?
What literary elements reinforce the contradiction in the final lines of the story: “I hain’t had no trouble. An’ no joy!” (594)? Why does the story offer no response from Misto C?
Related Titles
By Mark Twain
