Sinful Need The story of Adam and Eve is a parable taught in Christian Sunday schools all over the world. Mark Twain gives a fresh outlook of this story through “Eve’s Diary” and “Extracts from Adam’s Diary.” He recounts Adam and Eve’s strife and triumphs as the first man and woman on Earth in the form of a satire. Twain displays through humor, stereotyping, and diction Adam and Eve’s valuable lesson: men and women need each other.
Some consider humor to be the most entertaining way Twain shows this. Twain employs farce, as shown in this quote: “I put my finger in, to feel it, and said OUCH! and took it out again. It was a cruel pain...then I was full of interest, and began to examine...It was FIRE!” (Twain 204). Eve inserts her finger …show more content…
For example, Adam says, “Cloudy today, wind in the east; think we shall have rain. . . . WE? Where did I get that word-the new creature uses it” (Twain 189). Adam accidentally uses Eve’s word, “we”, which annoys him because he has convinced himself he does not care nor does he like Eve. In contrast, Eve is eager to use proper pronouns to describe Adam, as shown when she says: “If this reptile is a man, it isn’t an IT, is it? That wouldn't be grammatical, would it? I think it would be HE. I think so. In that case one would parse it thus: nominative, HE; dative, HIM; possessive, HIS'N. Well, I will consider it a man and call it he until it turns out to be something else. This will be handier than having so many uncertainties” (Twain 201). This shows how Eve knows all along that Adam is important to her, and to show her early attachment to Adam. It also shows how different Eve is from Adam. Eve is eager to create new words, whereas Adam is less enthusiastic. This shows that men and women need each other for support, as Adam nearly admits to by using the word “we.” It also shows that men and women need each other to gain new …show more content…
Through Eve, women are displayed as vain, as exemplified in this quote: “She fell in the pond yesterday when she was looking at herself in it, which she is always doing” (Twain 192). In this quote, Eve is staring at her own reflection and falls into the pond while doing so. Since she does not know that it is her own reflection, she sees it as a friend. This shows a commonly held stereotype that women spend magnanimous amounts of time staring at their own reflections. Through Adam, Twain shows the stereotype that men never show their true feelings. Eve complains about this in this quote: “Yesterday he avoided me and seemed to wish I would not talk to him. I could not believe it, and thought there was some mistake, for I loved to be with him, and loved to hear him talk, and so how could it be that he could feel unkind toward me when I had not done anything?” (Twain 202). Adam tries to avoid Eve several times throughout the diaries because he believes that he does not need her and does not want to be anywhere near her. However, they both learn that men and women need each other to remind each other of what is important in life. Adam later realizes that he cannot live without Eve, proving that while he may be in denial, he needs her, and understands what Eve knows from the
Some consider humor to be the most entertaining way Twain shows this. Twain employs farce, as shown in this quote: “I put my finger in, to feel it, and said OUCH! and took it out again. It was a cruel pain...then I was full of interest, and began to examine...It was FIRE!” (Twain 204). Eve inserts her finger …show more content…
For example, Adam says, “Cloudy today, wind in the east; think we shall have rain. . . . WE? Where did I get that word-the new creature uses it” (Twain 189). Adam accidentally uses Eve’s word, “we”, which annoys him because he has convinced himself he does not care nor does he like Eve. In contrast, Eve is eager to use proper pronouns to describe Adam, as shown when she says: “If this reptile is a man, it isn’t an IT, is it? That wouldn't be grammatical, would it? I think it would be HE. I think so. In that case one would parse it thus: nominative, HE; dative, HIM; possessive, HIS'N. Well, I will consider it a man and call it he until it turns out to be something else. This will be handier than having so many uncertainties” (Twain 201). This shows how Eve knows all along that Adam is important to her, and to show her early attachment to Adam. It also shows how different Eve is from Adam. Eve is eager to create new words, whereas Adam is less enthusiastic. This shows that men and women need each other for support, as Adam nearly admits to by using the word “we.” It also shows that men and women need each other to gain new …show more content…
Through Eve, women are displayed as vain, as exemplified in this quote: “She fell in the pond yesterday when she was looking at herself in it, which she is always doing” (Twain 192). In this quote, Eve is staring at her own reflection and falls into the pond while doing so. Since she does not know that it is her own reflection, she sees it as a friend. This shows a commonly held stereotype that women spend magnanimous amounts of time staring at their own reflections. Through Adam, Twain shows the stereotype that men never show their true feelings. Eve complains about this in this quote: “Yesterday he avoided me and seemed to wish I would not talk to him. I could not believe it, and thought there was some mistake, for I loved to be with him, and loved to hear him talk, and so how could it be that he could feel unkind toward me when I had not done anything?” (Twain 202). Adam tries to avoid Eve several times throughout the diaries because he believes that he does not need her and does not want to be anywhere near her. However, they both learn that men and women need each other to remind each other of what is important in life. Adam later realizes that he cannot live without Eve, proving that while he may be in denial, he needs her, and understands what Eve knows from the