MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature The Mississippi River in Mark Twain's Writings Bachelor Thesis Brno 2016 Supervisor: Author: PhDr. Irena Přibylová, Ph.D. Aneta Pavlišová Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. …………………………………… Aneta Pavlišová Brno, 17. 3. 2016 Bibliografický záznam Pavlišová, Aneta. The Mississippi River in Mark Twain's Writings: bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Fakulta pedagogická, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury, 2016. 63 s. Vedoucí bakalářské práce PhDr. Irena Přibylová, Ph.D. Anotace Bakalářská práce s názvem 'The Mississippi River in Mark Twain's Writings' se zabývá řekou Mississippi v díle Marka Twaina a porovnává její minulost, představovanou Twainem v jeho dílech Život na Mississippi, Dobrodružství Toma Sawyera a Dobrodružství Huckleberryho Finna, spolu se současným stavem řeky na základě serveru National Park Service. Práce je rozdělena na dvě části. První z nich nastiňuje teoretický základ o historii řeky Mississippi a životopisu Marka Twaina v souvislosti s řekou. Druhá část práce je analytická a zabývá se porovnáním aspektů řeky Mississippi z pohledu Marka Twaina v konfrontaci s moderní dobou. Tato část práce se soustředí na klimatické jevy, splavnost, parníky, rybaření a rekreaci v kontextu Mississippi a nakonec dnešními vzdělávacími možnostmi na řece. Klíčová slova Mississippi, historie, parníky, Mark Twain, realismus, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, splavnost, rybaření, klima. Bibliography Pavlišová, Aneta. The Mississippi River in Mark Twain's Writings: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English and literature. 2016. 63 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: PhDr. Irena Přibylová, PhD. Abstract: Bachelor thesis called 'The Mississippi River in Mark Twain's Writings' deals with the theme of the Mississippi River in Mark Twain's writings and compares the river's history, introduced by Twain in his books Life on the Mississippi, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with present state of the river based on National Park Service's web page. Bachelor thesis consists of two main parts. The first part outlines the theoretical background of the Mississippi River and Mark Twain's biography related to the river. The second part of the thesis is analytical and provides the comparison of the Mississippi River's aspects from Mark Twain's point of view in confrontation with modern times. This part of the thesis focuses on climatic phenomena, navigability, steamboats, fishing and recreation within the Mississippi's context and finally on today's educational possibilities on the river. Key words: Mississippi, history, steamboats, Mark Twain, realism, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, navigability, fishing, climate. I would like to sincerely thank to my supervisor PhDr. Irena Přibylová, Ph.D. and to my father, for their kind support and valuable advice. Content Introduction 1. The history of the river ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1. The early history .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2. European explorers and colonialism ............................................................................ 4 1.2.1. French domination ................................................................................................ 5 1.3. Commerce, steamboats and products .......................................................................... 6 2. Mark Twain's biography related to the river ....................................................................... 8 2.1. Introduction to his texts ............................................................................................... 9 2.2. Mark Twain's realism ................................................................................................ 13 2.2.1. Realism in general .............................................................................................. 13 2.2.2. What made Twain a realist ................................................................................. 14 3. The River as a unit ............................................................................................................ 15 3.1. Climatic phenomena .................................................................................................. 16 3.1.1. Floods ................................................................................................................. 16 3.1.2. Storms and tornadoes ......................................................................................... 18 3.2. Explosions of steamers .............................................................................................. 20 3.2.1. The cause of explosions ..................................................................................... 20 3.2.2. Fires on the Mississippi River in 21th century ................................................... 22 3.3. Navigability of the Mississippi River ........................................................................ 24 3.3.1. Mark, a steamboat pilot ...................................................................................... 24 3.3.2. Navigability of the river after 21 years to the end of 20th century ..................... 27 3.3.3. The completion of the changes in the 20th century ............................................. 29 3.4. Important cities along the Mississippi River ............................................................. 30 3.4.1. Twin cities , Minnesota ...................................................................................... 30 3.4.2. New Orleans, Louisiana ..................................................................................... 33 3.4.3. Hannibal, Missouri ............................................................................................. 35 3.5. Ethnical groups along the Mississippi ....................................................................... 37 3.5.1. Twain and African Americans ........................................................................... 37 3.5.2. Twain and Native Americans ............................................................................. 39 3.5.3. African Americans and Native Americans on the river nowadays .................... 39 3.6. The Mississippi River nowadays ............................................................................... 40 3.6.1. Swimming and fishing ....................................................................................... 41 3.6.2. Cultural and historical points of interests ........................................................... 43 3.6.3. Discovering the nature of the Mississippi .......................................................... 45 3.6.4. Educators on the Mississippi .............................................................................. 45 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………46 Resume……………………………………………………………………………………….49 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………50 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………..58 Introduction The Mississippi River flows through the United States of America and it is one of the largest rivers in the whole world. It is a significant part of the history and presence of the United States of America. Except for many other people, the Mississippi River affected the life and writings of Mark Twain, one of the greatest American writers. He grew up in Hannibal, a town which borders with the Mississippi River in the state of Missouri. The Mississippi River is reflected in his best known pieces – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In later stage of his life, he gathered more information about the river and published Life on the Mississippi which contains his memories of the river when he became the river pilot in his young age and his impression of the river and its surroundings in the later stage of his life when he came back there as a famous writer. His writings are interesting source of history in the Mississippi River area because Mark Twain described the change of the river from the time he became a steamboat pilot in 1859 and the time he came back to the river as a famous writer in 1882. This means that his Life on the Mississippi contains a reflection about changes that occurred as the time passed by, but also a report of the surrounding area and its phenomena. When I first read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as a child I was interested in the Mississippi river because it was obvious that this theme is somehow close to author's heart. I was especially intrigued by his ability to describe the river and nature around him. After some time of studying the history of colonialism, I discovered the Mississippi River's part in human history and found out about his Mississippi writings. Since then I wanted to know more about Twain's relation to the river. The aim of this work is to examine the Mississippi River as Twain describes it and compare it with nowadays state of the river. I will analyse the portrayal of the environment,