Mark Twain's 'Cub Pilot On The Mississippi River'

Emma Szymanowski
Mod 2

Mark Twain: Holbrook Portrayal
Mark Twain wrote many books like
The Prince and the Pauper
,
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
,
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
, and many more that melted our hearts and brought adventure to the soul. When it came to him, he never hesitated to say what was on his mind. He was always throwing jokes. I think Holbrook’s portrayal of
Mark Twain was mostly effective, but other times not so much.
In the text "Cub Pilot on the Mississippi River", Mark Twain was a steamboat crew member. He was ordered by his captain whose name was Brown. Brown was very harsh with Twain, but he did what he was told. Twain finally had enough and killed
Brown. He was approached by one of his crew members and
was caught. He came clean and told the truth. In the text, Twain was very honest. When he was confronted by his crew members he did not lie.
He told the truth, which gave him the trait of honesty. In
Holbrook ’s performance, he is also very honest. He spoke his mind about every topic. In one part of his performance, he talked about congress. When he was describing congress, he didn’t sugarcoat or lie about it. He said whatever he felt about congress not what they wanted to hear. So, Holbrook did a great job in that view playing Twain.
Another story called “My Papa, Mark Twain” was written by his daughter, Susy Clemens.
She had written about her father as a humorous man. Susy had written about him for months before he found out, but when he did he laughed. In fact, he even tried to make the story better and praised her for it. Usually, people that don't have a sense of humor would punish the girl. In the performance, Holbrook definitely adds humor. The whole time you could hear the audience laugh. In the show, there was never a dull moment (in a good way). At one point, he was describing cats and said “If you mix a cat with a man you'd perfect the man, but ruin the cat.” After that remark, there wasn't a single person in that crowd who didn’t laugh. In all, Holbrook showed several of the same traits as
Twain such as honesty and
humor.
Although “Cub Pilot of the Mississippi” had several similarities, there were also a couple differences. The story showed many parts to which Mark Twain was obedient, quiet, and showed self control to his captain, Brown. At one point in the text, Mark
Twain was consistently obedient, despite how harsh his captain treated him.
Such as when Brown prohibited Twain from helping a fellow crew member. Most people wouldn’t have done the ridiculous tasks ordered by Brown, thus making him a loyal crew member. Holbrook’s portrayal was never perceived as obedient. At sometimes, he

even seemed disobedient. During his performance, Holbrook did the taboo action of smoking indoors which many people would frown upon. This differentiates Holbrook and Twain. In the text “My Papa, Mark Twain”, Suzy talks about him being short tempered. Once he became so frustrated with his wife, he violently screamed and yelled at her. In the performance, he was always joyful and never got frustrated with the crowd. This makes “My Papa, Mark Twain” different from the performance.
I thought that overall Holbrook did a great job with portraying Mark Twain. I think that although there were some traits missing, the important ones were perfectly portrayed. The traits of obedient and short tempered were not widely known and not portrayed. However, his famous traits of humor and honesty showed through in
Holbrook’s portrayal.
I would very much recommend going and seeing this performance. It was
very humorous, eye-catching, and for the most part true. My absolute favorite part was when he talked about cats.