... to live up to its own egalitarian rhetoric. The land of the free (except for slaves) and the home of the brave (and extremely violent and repressive) inculcated racial myths within Clemens during his antebellum childhood on the Mississippi that were slowly fractured, ... deny the sins of their forebears - punishment and recompense are based on accepted, if not embraced, social constructs that even new scientific expertise cannot overcome. Like the promise envisioned for the "freedmen- during Reconstruction, the idea of improved racial circumstances is completely ... Twain's depiction o...

• Word Count: 3141
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate