Twain originally envisioned the characters of Luigi and Angelo Capello as conjoined twins, modeled after the late-19th century conjoined twins Giovanni and Giacomo Tocci. The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson Mark Twain A Whisper To The Reader. Aunt Patsy's daughter. He suspects that an old woman is responsible, since someone saw such a woman coming out of one of the robbed homes, and because Blake himself saw an old lady escaping on the ferry. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Pudd'nhead Wilson. Share your thoughts Complete your review. This disgraces Tom's uncle, Judge Driscoll, who lives by a strict code of honor. She is the mother of Valet de Chambre and acts as nanny to Thomas Driscoll. "Pudd'nhead Wilson Characters". The setting is the fictional frontier town of Dawson's Landing on the banks of the Mississippi River in the first half of the 19th century. At a young age, he is switched by his mother with Thomas à Becket Driscoll, a white child of similar age born into an aristocratic family in the small town. Plot Summary The setting is the fictional Missouri frontier town of Dawson’s Landing on the banks of the Mississippi River in the first half of the 19th century. In The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson, the book is basically two stories: the first, a white child of privilege and a slave being switched at birth and the second, a murder mystery involving Italian twins. We later learn that Tom Driscoll worships Rowena. Frank M. Mayo produced a theatrical adaptation in 1895 and played Wilson. Characters include:Pudd'nhead Wilson (David Wilson) ,Roxana (Roxy) ,Valet de Chambre (Chambers, Dawson's Landing's chief citizen and a descendent of Virginia's First Families. After this the Judge felt tenderer than ever toward Wilson, and surer than ever that his calendar had merit" (pp. Thomas à Becket Driscoll is the son of Percy Driscoll. That is just the way in this world; an enemy can partly ruin a man, but it takes a good-natured injudicious friend to complete the thing and make it perfect. However, fluent in four languages and musical prodigies, the twins are able to pull themselves out of this slavery. Valet de Chambre is Roxy's son. When one of the townspeople inquires as to why he wants to own half, he responds so that he can kill his half. The first part of the book seems to satirize racism in antebellum Missouri by exposing the fragility of the dividing line between white and black. There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. A prominent citizen in Dawson's Landing and a descendent of Virginia's First Families. But the episode takes place in 1893, a year before the book was published in the novel form in which it is shown. From this rather simple premise Mark Twain fashioned one of … One of the twins is said to have killed a man. GradeSaver, 11 July 2006 Web. Two characters, Pudd'nhead Wilson and Roxanna, proved particularly disruptive to this original manuscript. "Those Extraordinary Twins" was published as a short story, with glosses inserted into the text where the narrative was either unfinished or would have duplicated parts of Pudd'nhead Wilson.[6]. Chambers is portrayed as a decent young man whom Tom forces to fight bullies. (The essentialism is not reciprocal, however. Pudd'nhead Wilson is the central character, an eccentric lawyer who loves to collect fingerprints on slides of everyone in town. The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson is an appropriate example of one of his books that embraces all these characteristics mentioned above. At the end of the novel, Judge Driscoll is murdered by Tom, as Tom attempts to rob him to get money to pay off his debts. Which has the most influence on character, nature or nurture? Conversely, the characters in "Pudd'nhead Wilson" are ridiculous. The critical event of the story occurs early on, when Roxy, a slave woman caring for two infant boys of exactly the same age, one her son and the other the son of one of the leading citizens of the town, secretly switches their identities. As a result of this odd comment, Wilson is labeled a fool and given the nickname Pudd'nhead. She identifies as black, and speaks the dialect of slaves in the antebellum Deep South. Pudd'nhead Wilson Character List Judge York Leicester Driscoll. Page 1 of 1. It is about two children, one white and one Negro. Chambers is ​1⁄32 black, and as Roxy's son, was born into slavery. "Pudd'nhead" Wilson is left in the background as the focus shifts to the slave Roxy, her son, and the family they serve. His reputation as a fool is only made worse by his bizarre hobbies: palmistry and collecting fingerprints. She considers killing her boy and herself, but decides to switch Chambers and Tom in their cribs to give her son a life of freedom and privilege. "For some years Wilson had been privately at work on a whimsical almanac, for his amusement—a calendar, with a little dab of ostensible philosophy, usually in ironical form, appended to each date; and the Judge thought that these quips and fancies of Wilson’s were neatly turned and cute; so he carried a handful of them around, one day, and read them to some of the chief citizens. But these speculations ultimately fail and when he dies, his debts leave his son a pauper. The Widow Cooper is a citizen of Dawson's Landing who the townspeople affectionately refer to as "Aunt Patsy." by Mark Twain. This left the original team in, but only as mere names, not as characters. So I pulled out the farce and left the tragedy. Chambers is raised as a slave, and grows up to be meek and docile, but a strong fighter and good swimmer. Characters. Discussion Questions on Pudd’nhead Wilson. David Wilson makes a joke that is misunderstood by the townsfolk of Dawson's Landing, who take Wilson's words literally. According to Tom, Wilson's plan didn't work because the knife in question doesn't exist. Twain was not thorough in his separation of the twins, and there are hints in the final version of their conjoined origin, such as the fact that they were their parents' "only child", they sleep together, they play piano together, and they had an early career as sideshow performers. David Wilson – the character who names the play, a frustrated lawyer and detective for more than twenty-three years – lives obsessed by a science that at the end of the nineteenth century was novel and aimed at creating a fingerprint file to identify Without possible error to the individuals and to place them within the racial categories determined by the law. Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed down-stairs a step at a time.—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar. Roxy's son. After Pudd'nhead Wilson reveals that Chambers is the real Tom Driscoll, Chambers suddenly finds himself free, rich, and white. The Pudd'nhead Wilson e-text contains the full text of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain. This false heir, due to his overindulgent upbringing, grows to be spoiled and cruel, particularly to slaves and other blacks. Constable of Dawson's Landing, he is investigating the mysterious robberies. I respected the characters in Huckleberry Finn for their ingenuity and originality. Directed by Frank Reicher. She lives with her sons and her daughter, Rowena. Like her mother, Rowena cherishes her day of glory and the temporary fame that comes with hosting Luigi and Angelo. Judge Driscoll's brother and Tom's father. Tom attends Yale University for two years and returns to Dawson's Landing with "Eastern polish" which results in the locals disliking him more. In-depth explanations of Pudd'nhead Wilson's themes. Having no... Mrs. Rachel Pratt. Tell readers what you thought by rating and reviewing this book. Having no children of his own, he takes in his nephew, Tom, when his brother Percy dies. Tom's father has died and granted Roxy her freedom in his will. He is sold "down the river", helping the creditors recoup their losses. A descendent of Virginia's First Families and a close friend of Judge Driscoll. However, their reputation is tarnished after Tom spreads rumors that the reward the twins offered for their stolen knife is a hoax, and when Judge Driscoll suggests that Luigi is an assassin. Finally, Wilson makes two revelations that shock the townspeople and bring about Tom's demise: he man the town has come to know as Tom Driscoll is in fact the slave Valet de Chambre, switched in infancy by his mother, and this false heir is guilty... Pudd'nhead Wilson study guide contains a biography of Mark Twain, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Read "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson" by Mark Twain available from Rakuten Kobo. The Question and Answer section for Pudd'nhead Wilson is a great Even a man who fooled around with it as a hobby was thought to be a simpleton, a 'pudd'nhead'."[4]. Written in 1894, ten years after he published his masterpiece, Twain revisits antebellum small-town Missouri life and this time, his anger at the institution of slavery and the racist folly are front and center in the voice of an omniscient narrator. Moreover, these two pushed yet another intruding character, Tom Driscoll, to the forefront of the novel. Their father was a Florentine nobleman, but because he was on the losing side of a war, the Capello family was forced to flee to Germany. Pudd'nhead Wilson: James Pritchett ... Traynor: Dick Latessa ... Creech: Susan McWilliams ... Lucy: Kenneth Bethany ... Minister: Tom Aldredge ... Judge Mark Driscoll: Scotty Bloch ... Mrs. Driscoll: Steven Weber ... Tom Driscoll: Rachel Longaker ... Rowena: Preston Maybank He has successful land speculations which make him wealthy during his lifetime. Through his knowledge of fingerprints, he is able to uncover that the usurper, posing as Tom Driscoll, is the true murderer and reveals the slave's deception. "Pudd'nhead Wilson" is set in a small Mississippi River town in the slave state of Missouri in 1830-1853. Each chapter begins with clever quotations from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, a project of Wilson's which endears him to Judge Driscoll but further confirms everyone else's opinion of him as a pudd’nhead.[5]. In a final twist, the creditors of Tom's father's estate successfully petition the governor to have Tom's (Chambers) prison sentence overturned. In a courtroom scene, the whole mystery is solved when Wilson demonstrates, through fingerprints, both that Tom is the murderer, and not the true Driscoll heir. "There can't be any doubt of it. Only one sixteenth of her was black, and that sixteenth did not show. His weakness for gambling leads him into debt. He planned for them to be the central characters of a novel to be titled Those Extraordinary Twins. Observe the ass, for instance: his character is about perfect, he is the choicest spirit among all the humbler animals, Tom forces Chambers to serve as his bodyguard. Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894) is a novel by American writer Mark Twain. They are accused of murdering Judge Driscoll, and are defended by Pudd'nhead Wilson. He becomes somewhat isolated from the rest of the town and is unable to get his law practice started. The fact that it is so difficult to classify Roxy as well as the other characters in “Puddn’head Wilson" by Mark Twain that are developed more fully throughout the novel is also an issue with the character of Puddn’head. "Nature, Nurture, Nightmare: On Mark Twain's, The Composition of Mark Twain's 'Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins:' Chronology and Development, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Some Learned Fables for Good Old Boys and Girls, Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance, A True Story and the Recent Carnival of Crime, Punch, Brothers, Punch! —Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar The scene of this chronicle is the town of Dawson's Landing, on the Missouri side of the Mississippi, half a day's journey, per steamboat, below St. Louis. Upon Percy Driscoll's death, he grants Roxy her freedom, and she decides to become a chambermaid on a steamboat. Raised as a slave, Chambers is purchased by his uncle Judge Driscoll after his brother Percy dies. His gambling gets him into deep debt, and he resorts to robbing the citizens of Dawson's Landing to meet his obligations. The novel is featured in this episode as the inspiration for the final twist. In The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993), an episode ("Brisco for the Defense") is loosely based on the novel. His original story was to be a farce about Siamese twins with contrary personalities. Twain originally envisioned the characters of Luigi and Angelo Capello as conjoined twins, modeled after the late-19th century conjoined twins Giovanni and Giacomo Tocci. Pudd'nhead Wilson is the central character, an eccentric lawyer who loves to collect fingerprints on slides of everyone in town. From that point, the novel proceeds as a crime novel. The other boy is named Tom and is the son of a rich white man and … Judge Driscoll's widowed sister. All constraint and formality quickly disappeared, and the friendliest feeling … 3. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. "The reader knows from the beginning who committed the murder, and the story foreshadows how the crime will be solved. A WHISPER TO THE READER. She lives with the Judge and helps him care for Tom after the Judge's wife dies. He planned for them to be the central characters of a novel to be titled Those Extraordinary Twins. Due to her son's overwhelming percentage of European ancestry and appearance, she switches him with Driscoll's son when the boys are infants, hoping to guarantee Chambers freedom and an upper-class upbringing. More Books. David "Pudd'nhead" Wilson; Thomas á Becket Driscoll (Tom) Roxanna "Roxy" Valet de Chambre (Chambers) Luigi and Angelo; Judge Driscoll (York Leicester Driscoll) Percy Driscoll; Pembroke Howard; Mrs. York Leicester Driscoll; The Widow Cooper (a.k.a. The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson Preface. Pudd’nhead Wilson takes place in Missouri, more specifically in Dawson’s Landing, between the 1830s and 1850s. and Other Sketches, The £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New Stories, The Curious Republic of Gondour and Other Whimsical Sketches, A Salutation Speech From the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth, The Private History of a Campaign That Failed, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pudd%27nhead_Wilson&oldid=1008372558, Works originally published in The Century Magazine, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 February 2021, at 00:00. Mark Twain's satire humorously and pointedly lambastes everything from small-town politics and religious beliefs to slavery and racism.[2]. With a fair complexion, brown eyes, and straight brown hair, she looks more white than black, which makes sense based on her ancestry. He is a selfish and dissolute young man. At the beginning of Pudd'nhead Wilson a young slave woman, fearing for her infant's son's life, exchanges her light-skinned child with her master's. by Mark Twain. There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. The story was serialized in The Century Magazine (1893-1894), before being published as a novel in 1894.[1]. From Roxy's manner of speech, a stranger would have expected her to be black, but she was not. Luigi and Angelo Capello, a set of near-identical twins, appear in Dawson's Landing in reply to an ad placed by Aunt Patsy, who is looking for a boarder. 1. From then on he is known as "Tom", and is raised as the white heir to a large estate. Tom's uncle thus fights the duel in Tom's place. He is kind and always respectful towards Tom but receives brutal treatment by his master. 70–71). Tom is portrayed as the embodiment of human folly. What evidence do … They read those playful trifles in the solidest earnest, and decided without hesitancy that if there had ever been any doubt that Dave Wilson was a pudd’nhead—which there hadn’t—this revelation removed that doubt for good and all. Aunt Patsy) Rowena; Mrs. Rachel Pratt; John Buckstone; Jim Blake; Jasper; Colonel Cecil Burleigh Essex There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. Desperate for money, Tom robs and murders his wealthy uncle and the blame falls wrongly on one of the Italians. During the writing process, however, Twain realized that secondary characters such as Pudd'nhead Wilson, Roxy, and Tom Driscoll were taking a more central role in the story. As a result, Tom's uncle Judge Driscoll challenges Luigi Capello to a duel. He dies during the same fall season as Percy Driscoll. Chambers is the primary target of Tom's cruelty, who is jealous of the slave's natural physical abilities. The only way Percy can distinguish the two children is by their attire. Why, according to “Tom,” did Wilson’s plan not work out? However, after Roxy switches the babies, Twain refers to the young usurper (who is really a slave) as "Tom." Read the Study Guide for Pudd'nhead Wilson…, Personal Development: Nature vs. Nurture in Pudd’nhead Wilson, The Material Dialectic: A Marxist Analysis of Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, The Ruse of Race: Problematizing Binaries, View the lesson plan for Pudd'nhead Wilson…, View Wikipedia Entries for Pudd'nhead Wilson…. With Theodore Roberts, Alan Hale, Thomas Meighan, Florence Dagmar. They claim to be the children of an Italian nobleman who was forced to flee Italy with his wife after a revolution. As he developed this story, other characters—notably Roxy—intruded, pushing him in new directions. --Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar October. Tom is too afraid to fight Luigi in a duel, and instead brings assault charges against the Italian. She is described by Twain as a girl of no consequence. In "Huckleberry Finn", Huck and Jim are well developed, amazing characters- their story is one of fear, excitement and suspense. Have you ever seen that knife?". A list of all the characters in Pudd'nhead Wilson. Later, it is revealed that he is the father of Roxy's baby. She lives with the Judge and helps him care for Tom after the... Pembroke Howard. Roxy is principally charged with caring for her inattentive master's infant son Tom Driscoll, who is the same age as her own son. Free, fun, and packed with easy-to-understand explanations! In front of Wilson's porch stood Roxy, with a local handmade baby wagon, in which sat her two charges--one at each end and facing each other. Tom intentionally gets under Wilson's skin, bringing up his failure to get his law practice off the ground and then turning to Wilson's odd hobbies. The book was originally published in America, on 28 November 1894, as The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson and the Comedy of Those Extraordinary Twins. Tom is switched with Roxy's baby Chambers when he is a few months old, and is called "Chambers" from then on. Later, she consents to her son selling her back into slavery to help pay off his gambling debts. Although the title character, he remains in the background of the novel until the final chapters. After the death of their parents, Luigi and Angelo were sold into servitude to pay off their parents' debts. There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. Shown to be born to a slave mother, he is classified as a slave and is legally included among the property assets of the estate. In Dawson's Landing, they are widely admired, particularly after Luigi honorably engages Judge Driscoll in a duel. Naturalistic readings risk framing the story as a vindication of racism based on biological differences too subtle to be seen. In The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson, the book is basically two stories: the first, a white child of privilege and a slave being switched at birth and the second, a murder mystery involving Italian twins. They give him the nickname "Pudd'nhead" and refuse to give him their legal work. Roxy is ​1⁄16 black, or 15/16 white. Pudd'nhead Wilson literature essays are academic essays for citation. David Wilson, a young lawyer, moves to town, and a clever remark of his is misunderstood, which causes locals to brand him a "pudd'nhead" (nitwit). Judge Driscoll's widowed sister. When his uncle seizes him, Tom stabs him with a knife. The two boys, who look similar, are switched at infancy. They were put to work as attractions in a Berlin museum, where they are not compensated for their labor and must beg for food. In particular, Pudd’nhead Wilson is a tour de force of reversals, upsets, twists, and wordplay which is enjoyable just for the moment-to-moment diversions. He picks up the habits of drinking and gambling while away at Yale. [2] Word of the joke spreads quickly, and Wilson becomes known as "Pudd'nhead" for being a fool in the eyes of the townspeople. 894. The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson. Although the real Tom Driscoll is restored to his rights, his life changes for the worse. Dawson's Landing's chief citizen and a descendent of Virginia's First Families. He died soon afterward, followed by his wife. Its central intrigue revolves around two boys—one, born into slavery, with 1/32 black ancestry; the other, white, born to be the master of the house. Though Luigi and his twin Angelo are initially tried for the murder, Pudd'nhead Wilson reveals to the town that Tom is the real murderer, and is in fact a slave, marauding as Tom Driscoll. Twin Italian noblemen visit Dawson's Landing to some fanfare, and Tom quarrels with one. After his father's death, he is adopted by his uncle Judge Driscoll, who frequently disinherits him, only to rewrite his will again to include him. 1,289 reviews. Though he has little tolerance for Tom's drinking and gambling, and often disinherits the boy due to these vices, deep down he loves his nephew and is always quick to put him back into his will. What mistake does “Tom” unknowingly make at Wilson’s? He is a descendent of the First Families of Virginia. His hobby of collecting fingerprints does not raise his standing in the eyes of the townsfolk, who consider him to be eccentric and do not frequent his law practice. After fellow slaves are caught stealing and are nearly sold "down the river" to a master in the Deep South, Roxy fears for her son and herself. When his son, Tom, is an infant, Percy cannot tell him apart from his slave Roxy's baby. Roxana is a slave, originally owned by Percy Driscoll and freed upon his death. They say they want to relax after years of traveling the world. He serves as the Judge's second in the duel against Luigi Capello. He scrapes by on odd work and spends most of his time dabbling in scientific hobbies, most notably, fingerprinting. A slave switches her light-skinned baby with her master's baby. The judge is childless and sad, and wants to prevent the young man Tom Driscoll from selling Chambers downriver. Tom responds to Roxy with derision. Desperately needing money to pay off more debts, Tom attempts to rob his own uncle. Copyright © 1999 - 2021 GradeSaver LLC. In what way is Pudd’nhead Wilson’s remark about the dog the key to the whole book? PUDD'NHEAD WILSON is not HUCKLEBERRY FINN, but it is a worthy Twain novel, a strong example of his satiric and ethical writing. Tom Driscoll (formerly Valet de Chambre) has been raised to believe that he is white and has become a spoiled aristocrat. The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain A WHISPER TO THE READER There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. Twain now found himself with two stories uncomfortably meshed together. Not affiliated with Harvard College. No one is more excited than she is for the arrival of the Italian twins. Shortly after arriving, he hears a dog barking loudly and remarks that he wished he owned half of the dog. One of the twins kicks Tom because he made a joke about him at a town meeting. But irony was not for those people; their mental vision was not focussed for it. The new Tom Driscoll is accepted by a family with high Virginian ancestry as its own, and he grows up to be corrupt, self-interested, and distasteful. When he inadvertently insults Luigi Capello at a meeting of the rum party, he receives a massive kick that launches him into the audience and causes a riot. Hauss, Stephen. Living by a strict code of honor, the Judge fights a duel in his nephew's place, when Tom is too cowardly to defend his honor himself. They consider the subtle, intelligent Wilson to be a simpleton. 2. In the end, when Luigi and Angelo are on trial for Judge Driscoll's murder, Wilson serves as their defense attorney. The child grows up raised by whites. At the same time, as a white man, he is essentially excluded from the company of blacks. As she was born into slavery, she is still considered a slave and is associated with blacks. At breakfast in the morning the twins’ charm of manner and easy and polished bearing made speedy conquest of the family’s good graces. The characters of Luigi and Angelo remain in Pudd'nhead Wilson, as twins with separate bodies. After being cleared of the charges, they decide they have had enough of the American West and return to Europe. Wilson is a lawyer who came to Dawson's Landing to practice law, but was unable to succeed at his law practice after alienating the locals. Observe the ass, for instance: his character is about perfect, he is the choic-est spirit among all the humbler animals, yet see what ridicule has brought him to. CHAPTER 1 — Pudd'nhead Wins His Name Tell the truth or trump—but get the trick. )[3], The novel features the technological innovation of the use of fingerprints as forensic evidence. Set of Italian twins who respond to Aunt Patsy's ad and rent a room in her home. She worked for a time on river boats, and saved money for her retirement. A film in 1916 and a made-for-TV movie in 1984 were based on the book.[7]. The Tragedy Of Pudd'nhead Wilson. [2] The reader does not know, at the end of the story, whether Tom's behavior results from nature or nurture. Twain began with a Siamese twins plot. The result is that Wilson role is considered that of a mere lever, or someone who … Throughout the novel she remains loyal to the twins, and is the only person who comes to visit them in jail, as they are awaiting trial for the murder of Judge Driscoll. The latter named Chambers is the son of a woman who is 1/16th Negro and a white man, and therefore 1/32nd Negro, indistinguishable from white people. Despite this reputation, he fosters a friendship with the town's chief citizen, Judge Driscoll, as well as the two Italian twins, Luigi and Angelo. The text begins: Tom Stares at Ruin When I reflect upon the number of disagreeable people who I know have gone to a better world, I am moved to lead a different life. Tom is spoiled, cruel and wicked. However, because of his slave upbringing, he does not feel comfortable in the white man's world. Chambers adapts well to life as a slave and fails to successfully assume his proper place as a high-class white. She tells him the truth about his ancestry and that he is her son and partially black; she blackmails him into financially supporting her. Twain therefore “pulled out the farce and left the tragedy” and instead wrote Pudd’nhead Wilson. To supplement her income, Aunt Patsy puts out an ad that she is renting a room. He shares diction with other slaves. Each grows into the other's social role. After the Judge's murder, he acts as state prosecutor in the criminal trial against Luigi and Angelo. The narrative moves forward two decades. More importantly, he found that the serious tone of the story of Roxy and Tom clashed unpleasantly with the light tone of the twins' story. Read Chapter 13 of The Tragedy of Pudd'Nhead Wilson by Mark Twain. She relishes in this momentary fame. A young lawyer who moves to Dawson's Landing from New York. Roxy switches her child with her master's child, so Twain refers to the true heir as "Chambers." As he explains in the introduction to "Those Extraordinary Twins": The defect turned out to be the one already spoken of – two stories on one, a farce and a tragedy. Roxy is charged with caring for her master's son, Tom, along with her own child, Chambers. One of Percy Driscoll's slaves. Fearing that her child will one day grow up and be sold down the river, Roxy decides to switch the babies. More by this Author. When she finally is able to retire, she discovers that her bank has failed and all of her savings are gone. Her child will one day grow up and be sold down the river, Roxy decides to a... As the embodiment of human folly time dabbling in scientific hobbies, most notably, fingerprinting is., pushing him in new directions the technological innovation of the townspeople inquires as why! 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Cruelty, who look similar, are switched at infancy into deep debt, and Tom quarrels one. Season as Percy Driscoll about the dog the key to the Reader knows from the of. Is only made worse by his master habits of drinking and gambling while away at Yale,. Of all the characters in Pudd'nhead Wilson is labeled a fool and given the nickname `` Pudd'nhead and.