Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Ghosts!
When reading, “A Ghost Story,” I felt as though the story was rather hard to understand without knowing the background information. I did not know what the Cardiff Giant was, and therefore, felt as though I could not fully grasp the satire in it. After hearing the discussion about the story, I understand that Twain was satirizing the idea that people believe everything that they hear. During this time period, society was really searching for sensationalism. People desired to hear stories that were rather outlandish and outrageous instead of ordinary. I think that this story is fairly typical of Twain in that he is making fun of something that was occurring in society. He was making fun of those who simply believe something without knowing the facts. I enjoyed reading this story, because I feel as though today, people are not quite as gullible. People are much more skeptical of what they hear now a days, so I find it funny that people were so gullible during Twain’s time. Overall, I really enjoy Twain’s satire.
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Hi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice post. I think you are right that the story is best read with an understanding of the Cardiff Giant hoax. Knowing this helps a lot, since we then understand that MT was poking fun at gullibility and the human desire for sensationalism. What I like about the story is that it too is a kind of hoax. It starts off as a gothic story of terror and then turns into a joke in the end. Good post. dw