They also introduce many significant elements to the plot, for example, Pudd’nhead’s introduction and why he’s such a pudd’nhead. The passage from the beginning of chapter 1 explains how he has become an outcast: a dog is barking but can’t be seen. Wilson states, “I wish I owned half of that dog,” to which somebody replies, “Why?” and Wilson answers, “Because I would kill my half” (Twain 9). The townsfolk take it literally and think he’s dumb from then until the end of the novel. This is a tragedy for Wilson himself because he comes to Dawson’s Landing to find work, but since he is now an outcast, nobody hires him until twenty years later. Dixon’s concept analysis of the novel focuses more on the literary elements of the book, such as foreshadowing, imagery, characters, and so on. When discussing Wilson’s character, it says, “Pudd’nhead is singled out, which makes his life seem lonelier” (Dixon). Wilson does not have a wife or any family in Dawson’s Landing so he is alone to start with, and then he unintentionally alienates himself from his neighbors with a harmless comment, so he is the loneliest character in the novel. Another tragedy can be seen in chapter 3: “[Roxy] undressed Thomas à Becket stripping him of everything, and put the tow-linen shirt on him. She put his coral necklace on her own child’s neck” (Twain 24). Twain probably intended for there to be an …show more content…
Everybody, with the exception of David Wilson, is left worse off than they started: all of Roxy’s efforts have been for nothing, Tom is shunned, Chambers is sold down the river, the twins leave Dawson’s Landing to avoid more embarrassment, and Judge Driscoll is dead. Pudd’nhead Wilson has all the elements of a literary tragedy, from the plot to even the diction used to tell the story. Dawson’s Landing sees misfortune after misfortune in the twenty-one or so years that the novel takes place and everything that happens is a drawback for most of the characters involved. In conclusion, although not many people view this novel as a tragedy, all the adversity seen makes Pudd’nhead Wilson a prime example of a literary