Two Views Of The Mississippi Sparknotes

What One Sees Is Not Always What It Seems
“Two Views of the Mississippi”, by Mark Twain is a very remarkable piece. In this short story he is reminiscing back to a time when he first sees the Mississippi River, the beauty he took in that day. Then he looks once more only to find that it is not all that enchanting. He looks back, only to find something that contradicts the beauty he is witnessing. When people look at something, they only see what they want to see, the truth is there is always a darker layer behind beauty.
There are many methods of organization in this piece but the two that stand out are descriptive and comparison and contrast. The descriptive method used in this piece is extremely visualizing. The way Twain uses such vivid detail, brings the river to life right before the audiences eyes. He describes the river as being “majestic”. He describes every last detail, everything from the colors luminescing from the sun, the broken log floating in the river, and the single leaf left on a tree blowing. He helps readers to see all the good and bad he remembers from the river, just as readers were viewing it there selves. The title of this piece itself lets readers know with two views there will be much comparison and
contrast.
He gives the first look as he remembers the beauty of all he sees that day, but when he grasps reality he sees the difference of what is really to be seen. A smooth spot he notices with “graceful circles and radiating lines” are now “densely wooded. The glories and charms from the
different stages of the day he views, ceases all together. Every glorious moment there is about the river, he sees the true meaning behind it. He thinks of all the values the rivers has is completely useless, it’s just a mirage of beauty. The way Twain uses descriptive and comparison and contrast methods of organization, he puts his readers in his place to see the two views of the river he sees, all the beauty to every last detail, then how quickly the beauty of something fades away or reveals how it was really never there.
There are two easily identified purposes with in this short story they are to express and inform readers. Twain is expressing how he sees everything the river is made of and good for. He is feeling a bit nostalgic. He longs for his past, to be able to see and appreciate life the way he used to before the world became corrupted. He loses his ability to see the simple things in life, which leaves him wallowing in sorrow. The second purpose exposed in this piece is to inform the audience about the little things in life. He wants to show readers two aspects in life. Views can always change or lose something by learning from different experiences in life that. He can gain a deeper insight into life itself or from within. Anyone can always broaden their way of thinking when viewing the world differently. Sometimes taking a step back and looking beyond the spectrum can change the difference from a beautiful rose growing afar, or the up close rose that is being consumed by many insects for their use in pollination. In his story Twain does a great job expressing and informing the audience on looking into the world differently and with an open mind instead of a blind eye.
Twain did a fantastic job in this short story. He writes this piece with very descriptive language to pull the audience in and he compares and contrasts to show his two views of the river. He expressing his feelings greatly in the beginning showing a great deal of emotion. He also informs readers of the importance of the small things in life. When people look at something, they only see what they want to see, the truth is there is always a darker layer behind beauty.