Twain’s treatment of the land itself parallels his satire of the romantic depictions of Arabs in American travel literature. The holy sites are targets of satire in so far as they too are revealed to be inauthentic or fraudulent. The purpose of this satire is not to ridicule belief; indeed Twain believed that the holy sites, even the fraudulent ones, played a role in religious experience. Rather, Twain’s satire deemphasizes Palestine’s holiness in order to direct American attention away from the mythicized past toward the present.
By traveling to the Holy Land, Twain’s pilgrims sought to better understand, or even to confirm, the biblical narrative they were so familiar with in the United States. As Twain realized, this narrative was in part
By traveling to the Holy Land, Twain’s pilgrims sought to better understand, or even to confirm, the biblical narrative they were so familiar with in the United States. As Twain realized, this narrative was in part