Violence and oppression on the part of slave masters in the form of forced separation, imprisonment, beatings, rape and murder kept slaves in a continual state of submission and checked potential violence from slave insurrections. The endemic insecurity of such a society required all of its members to deceive themselves in order to survive and make "sense- within the social context they were born. To step outside the established norms, was to invite ostracism as can be seen in the condemnation of Puddn'head Wilson by the townspeople in Dawson's Landing, or even the isolation of the Boss in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Challenging the existing mythology might only be achieved in a backhanded manner that minimized the threat to the dominant structure in all of its manifestations and through all of society's various human class and race strata. Oftentimes the best way to approach seemingly unmentionable themes was through the side door of comedy and satire - areas where Mark Twain had few, if any, equals. For Samuel Clemens this further removed him from facing his own demons, of which he apparently had many.
As described by John C. Gerber in "Pudd'nhead Wilson as Fabulation,"" Mark Twain was not really a novelist - he was more of a "new journalist,"" who spun yarns that reflected American life as well or better than any "realistic- novel or overt political propaganda. Early in his career he exhibited the humor that allowed for social commentary and criticism without attacking his subjects head on. By keeping his readers off balance and unsure of his conclusions he was able to address taboo issues, and force a dialogue that might not have been possible without the ability to escape with a slight titter - an ability to laugh when tears might have been more appropriate. .
This approach to the incongruities in American culture existed within Twain himself. He both romanticizes and criticizes the racial construction of American society.
