Editing Mark Twain (section)

===''Tom Sawyer'' and ''Huckleberry Finn''===
Twain's next major publication was ''[[The Adventures of Tom Sawyer]]'', which draws on his youth in Hannibal. [[Tom Sawyer]] was modeled on Twain as a child, with traces of schoolmates John Briggs and Will Bowen.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Graysmith |first=Robert |date=2012 |title=The Adventures of the Real Tom Sawyer |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-adventures-of-the-real-tom-sawyer-35894722/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en |archive-date=February 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225005659/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-adventures-of-the-real-tom-sawyer-35894722/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hoeltje |first=Hubert H. |date=1954 |title=When Mark Twain Spoke in Portland |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20612133 |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=73–81 |jstor=20612133 |issn=0030-4727 |access-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605042934/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20612133 |url-status=live }}</ref> The book also introduces Huckleberry Finn in a supporting role, based on Twain's boyhood friend Tom Blankenship.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lorch |first=Fred W. |date=1940 |title=A Note on Tom Blankenship (Huckleberry Finn) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2921035 |journal=American Literature |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=351–353 |jstor=2921035 |issn=0002-9831 |access-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605042933/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2921035 |url-status=live }}</ref>

''[[The Prince and the Pauper]]'' was not as well received, despite a [[Plot (narrative)|storyline]] that is common in film and literature today. The book tells the story of two boys born on the same day who are physically identical, acting as a social commentary as the prince and pauper switch places. Twain had started ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (which he consistently had problems completing)<ref>{{cite book | last = Powers | first = Ron | author-link = Ron Powers | title = Mark Twain: A Life | publisher = Free Press | year = 2005 | location = New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/marktwainlife00powe_0/page/471 471–473] | isbn = 978-0-7432-4899-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/marktwainlife00powe_0/page/471 }}</ref> and had completed his travel book ''[[A Tramp Abroad]]'', which describes his travels through central and southern Europe.

Twain's next major published work was the ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'', which confirmed him as a noteworthy American writer. Some have called it the first Great American Novel, and the book has become required reading in many schools throughout the United States. ''Huckleberry Finn'' was an offshoot from ''Tom Sawyer'' and had a more serious tone than its predecessor. Four hundred manuscript pages were written in mid-1876, right after the publication of ''Tom Sawyer''. The last fifth of ''Huckleberry Finn'' is subject to much controversy. Some say that Twain experienced a "failure of nerve," as critic [[Leo Marx]] puts it. [[Ernest Hemingway]] once said of ''Huckleberry Finn'':

<blockquote>If you read it, you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating.</blockquote>

Hemingway also wrote in the same essay:

<blockquote>All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ''Huckleberry Finn''.<ref>From Chapter 1 of ''[[Green Hills of Africa]]''</ref></blockquote>

Near the completion of ''Huckleberry Finn'', Twain wrote ''Life on the Mississippi'', which is said to have heavily influenced the novel.<ref name="c-a-kirk"/> The travel work recounts Twain's memories and new experiences after a 22-year absence from the Mississippi River. In it, he also explains that "Mark Twain" was the call made when the boat was in safe water, indicating a depth of two (or [[wikt:twain|twain]]) [[fathom]]s ({{convert|12|ft|m|disp=or}}).

McDowell's cave—now known as [[Mark Twain Cave]] in Hannibal, Missouri, and frequently mentioned in Twain's book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer''—has "Sam Clemens", Twain's real name, engraved on the wall by Twain himself.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Amanda Jackson|date=September 27, 2019|title=After decades of searching, Mark Twain's signature was found inside a famous cave|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/26/us/mark-twain-clemens-signature-cave-found-trnd/index.html|access-date=March 5, 2021|website=CNN|language=en}}</ref>