War Prayer: A Psychological Analysis Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or more commonly known by his pseudonym Mark Twain, wrote the brilliant and powerful short story War Prayer as a result of his views on American Imperialism. War Prayer was originally penned in 1905, by which time Mark Twain had already traveled the world quite extensively and had seen the impact that the policies American and British Imperialism had other on countries around the world. War Prayer is Twain’s satirical attempt to enlighten his fellow countrymen as to the psychological manipulation taking place as well as the irony of their self-proclaimed patriotism and religion. Mark Twain’s view of how well patriotism and religion go together can be likened to that of oil and
