How Does Mark Twain Use Satire In Advice To Youth

The purpose of Mark Twain’s “Advice to Youth” is to convey the message that because of the rules set in place for them, children cannot experience their youth properly. In his essay, Mark Twain uses satire to convince adults that their expectations for youth are preventing children from living their life. Twain’s essay encourages children to enjoy their youth despite the rules adults set for them. In his second paragraph, Twain suggests that youth “obey their parents”, but only “when they are present”. He goes as far as to state that children know more than their parents, but that they should let their parents think that the parents have more knowledge. This way the children can enjoy their life more. His following paragraphs follow the same structure. Twain gives other advice such as using dynamite as a substitute for personal violence or that lying is fine if done correctly. This advice is extreme, but conveys Twain’s intended message just as in the second paragraph.
Mark Twain shows that children should be enjoying their youth, instead of following rules, in his essay “Advice to Youth”. He does this through his use of satire and humor in the essay. He mocks the rules that adults have set for children and shows children the ‘proper’ way to spend their lives. By using satire to convey his message, Twain is …show more content…
However, this advice should be taken in moderation. Twain has extreme requests throughout the work including for children to “pick out a relative and bang away”. Of course, this request is not to be taken literally, nor is the rest of the essay. The exaggeration and satire of the piece highlight Twain’s true message that children should enjoy their youth and not be forced to mature. This is an important message as each person only has one childhood. If that childhood is spent trying to act like an adult then according to Mark Twain, the childhood is