I thought Twain's introduction was strange, and after reading more of the story, I realized that it definitely mimics the ironic tone of the rest of the novel. The fact that Twain describes his court room scenes as credible because of his proofreader, even though he is a failed lawyer, is of course a major irony. I imagine that Twain did this intentionally to introduce the ideas of irony throughout the rest of the story. I don't know if his other novels have introductions like this one, and I'm interested to see what people have to say about it in Thursdays class.
I also think it's interesting that Twain begins his introduction from a quote from Pudd'nhead's calendar, as his does at the beginning of every other chapter. I think this makes the intro seem less "real" and more like another piece of the story. Generally introductions that describe the writing process usually feel more removed from the story itself, so including a quote from a main character was an interesting move on Twain's part.
"A Whisper to the Reader" was very interesting, and I too especially enjoyed the quotes from Pudd'nhead's calendar at the beginning of each chapter. It felt a little odd taking advice from a character we are told is an idiot, especially before he really proves himself to be the smartest character. "A Whisper to the Reader" was an oblique introduction to Pudd'nhead which, I believe, reaffirms Twain's faith in the character.
ReplyDeleteYour idea that the introduction seemed less "real" because of the calendar quote is really interesting if you look at it the opposite way too. Perhaps the calendar quote from the introduction, which is so attached to the irony of the "Whisper," conveys that irony on the rest of the story and prepares us for the impossibly comical world of Dawson's Landing.
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