Literary Response 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Literary Response 2 - Essay Example Hence, Twain becomes nostalgic when he visits the river after ages. For the young boys who lived along the Mississippi River during the early 1800’s, the steam boatman was regarded as the ultimate hero. All the young boys had secret desires to be a strong steam boatman who wades across the river in the boat, battling the rough waves of the Mississippi. Twain recalls how, the steam boatman generated a considerable amount of envy from young boys with his talks. The way they described the streets of 'St. Looy' in a casual manner, so that even the boys who had been to St. Louis once felt that their days of glory were over. The conversations would be loaded with the technical jargons of the steam boat and would create awe among Twain and his friends. The way the steam boatman carried the rusty bolt to scrub the boat so that the young boys could 'see him, envy him and loathe him' (Twain, 1917, page no. 35). As much as they hated the sight of the steam boatman being popular, they all nursed the secret ambition of being someone like him so that they also could be the object of envy.