Pudd'nhead Wilson Themes

Let's be honest: slavery is one of those unpleasant subjects we'd probably rather not think too much about were we given a choice. But the story of Pudd'nhead Wilson is so wild and wonderful (in ou...

To say that Pudd'nhead Wilson focuses a lot on race is kind of like saying that baby pandas in ballerina costumes are cute. It's like, duh. While the novel's emphasis on race and its sinister cousi...

Although guys surely outnumber gals in Pudd'nhead Wilson, let's not forget that it's a woman who's behind this entire story. Roxy's motherly love for her child, in particular, causes her to switch...

Figuring out what's right or wrong has never been easy. But questions about morality become a million times more complicated in the context of the slaveholding culture of the antebellum South that...

Want to make an entire town go wild? Send them a pair of piano-playing Italian twins! Okay, that might only happen in the fictional world of Dawson's Landing. Before they ever even lay eyes on Luig...

The citizens of Puddn'head Wilson's Dawson's Landing know foolishness when they see it—or at least they think they do. They hastily declare Pudd'nhead Wilson a town fool, pretty much sealing his...

We're told that honesty is the best policy and that bad things can happen to liars (remember that Pinocchio guy?). Still, there's no denying that a lot of the deceptions that take place in Pudd'nhe...

Tom Driscoll has a whole lot in common with the characters in The Wizard of Oz. He totally seems to lack a heart and he could use some more brain power. He's probably most similar, though, to the C...