It is said that the family of Mark Twain used to own slaves and that he grew up with them In his family "slavery was practiced benevolently and the word nigger was rigidly forbidden- (16). Pettit adds that Twain gained most of his positive acquaintances with slaves during his summers spent on his uncle's farm who owned many of them. Twain had a special relationship to one of the slaves called Uncle Daniel. He remembered him as a "faithful and affectionate good friend, ally and adviser- (19). Further on Mark Twain says "All the negroes were friends of ours and with those of our own age we were comrades, and yet not comrades; color and condition interposed a subtle line which both parties were conscious of and which rendered complete fusion impossible."" (20) Mark Twain had to admit that too many "terms and conditions were imposed on both races to permit the degree of intimacy- (19) which he maybe would have liked to have shared with them. Pettit says that "his mother was distressed by the mistreatment of slaves - but that "she never spoke out against slavery as a social institution- (20). .
Finally I would say that Mark Twain was both influenced by the opinion of his parents, but also by the general attitude people had towards slaves in those days and especially in the South. Growing up, he made up his own mind and displayed it with the help of his writings, as he did in "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson-.
"The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson- is introduced by a description of a peaceful, calm town seemingly harmless and full of harmony:.
"In 1830 it was a snug little collection of modest one- and two-storey frame dwellings whose whitewashed exteriors were almost concealed from sight by climbing tangles of rose-vines, honeysuckles, and morning-glories When there was room on the ledge outside of the pots and boxes for a cat, the cat was there-in sunny weather-stretched at full length, asleep and blissful, with her furry belly to the sun and a paw curved over her nose.
