他还活着吗

On the Themes of Mark Twain’s Is He Living or is He Dead?

Abstract:

One of Mark Twain’s most famous short stories Is He Still Living or Is He Dead contains many themes: such as the coldness and ostentatiousness, sacrifice and compensatory, and the importance of media. The whole story develops around these themes, which are the clues of the short story, showing mark twain’s writing style: humorous and satirical.

Key words: themes，satirical,surviving by dying;

1.Introduction

Is he living or is he dead is an important short story written by American writer Mark Twain. The story is short but pithy, humorous, and satirical. Even though it was written more than 100 years ago, during the one hundred years, few people have studies it in the field of literature. One scholar has analyzed miller’s life, and he think Millet’s fame is mainly made by medium.” pretending dead”brings him world reputation, but the dead miller can not enjoy the fame open and aboveboard, instead, he lives a lonely life. The paper will try to expound this work through the three themes.

2. Discussion

the themes in this story

2.1 The coldness and ostentatiousness of the rich

Mark Twain satirizes people in high class and the rich in most of his works. And this theme has also been expressed in his is he living or is he dead.

At the beginning of the story, the writer tells us something he has experienced in

the Riviera.’’ At this retired spot one has all the advantages, privately, which are to be had publicly at Monte Carlo and Nice, a few miles farther along. That is to say, one has the flooding sunshine, the balmy air and the brilliant blue sea, without the marring additions of human pow-wow and fuss and feathers and display. Mentone is quiet, simple, restful, and unpretentious; the rich and the gaudy do not come there.”Obviously, by these description, we can know that the writer stand against the ostentatious bourgeoisie. He looks down upon their vainglory life style, from these sentences and vocabulary, Mark Twain shows his satirical and ridicule attitude to the ostentatious rich.

In the ninth paragraph, by the mouth of Smith, the writer introduces us a philosophic story, which is written by Hans Andersen. It is a beautiful little story. A child has a caged bird, which it loves but thoughtlessly neglects. The bird pours out its song unheard and un heeded; but, in time, hunger and thirst assail the creature, and its song grows plaintive and feeble and finally ceases—the bird dies.The child comes, and is smitten to the heart with remorse: then,with bitter tears and lamentations, it calls its mates, and they bury the bird with elaborate pomp and the tenderest grief. The children don’ t know that the money they pay for the f uneral could have kept the bird alive and made it easy and comfortable. Many poets and artists are like the caged bird, they struggle to live when they are alive, and hardly can they keep their body and soul together,and usually, most of them will die in poverty and obscurity. However, after their death, fame and fortune which they deserve will arrive, but the reward will be put into others’ pockets.

Now, let us come to the four young painters, from their experience, we can see the coldness of the rich. In Is He Living, or Is He Dead,Francois Millet, a poor and young artist, is a case in point. He and his fellows painted stacks and stacks of as good pictures as anybody in Europe paints, but they could not sell any of it. Millet once asked eight francs for his“Angelus” , but nobody would like to pay the price. They could hardly make a living. It seemed obvious that Millet and his fellow painters would follow the footprints of many other artists—die in poverty and obscurity.

Fortunately, one of the fellows, Carl, came up with a good idea. His project was