Jan McCutcheon
English 48B
Journal for Letters from Earth



Author Quote: “There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing, and predatory. The invention of hell measured by our Christianity of today, bad as it is, hypocritical as it is, empty and hollow as it is, neither the deity nor his son is a Christian, nor qualified for that moderately high place. Ours is a terrible religion. The fleets of the world could swim in spacious comfort in the innocent blood it has spilled.”


Internet Quote: "I believe that Mark Twain had a clearer vision of life, that he came nearer to its elementals and was less deceived by its false appearances, than any other American who has ever presumed to manufacture generalizations, not excepting Emerson. I believe that he was the true father of our national literature, the first genuinely American artist of the royal blood." -- H.L. Mencken


Summary: In "Letters from the Earth" Twain writes humorous letters from Satan to St. Gabriel and an accounting of prayers by Abnew Scofield from The Recording Angel. Written in 1909, they were not published until 1961. Twain believed they would never be published, due to the scandalous nature would be a felony. Twain's daughter would not approve of publishing them, so they had to be published after her death.

Response: As an atheist I have a low opinion of religions and think the problems they cause do not outweigh the benefits, so naturally, I enjoyed reading Twain's not too subtle attack on the institution. I found it interesting that this was not published until after his death, although I can certainly imagine it would have caused quite a scandal at the time. I wonder if Twain’s concern was for his own reputation or for that of his daughter, because he does not seem to be afraid to stir up a controversy. I'm surprised it doesn't cause a scandal now because I think the country is becoming very religious again. I suppose Twain would not be pleased if he knew how little progress we have made in the past 100 years. We are still struggling with racism, and religion; two issues he probably thought would be resolved by now. His letters from Satan describe Christian heaven as being all the things sensible people hate and none of the things we like, as if it’s a place designed by a mad man. Why on earth would anyone want to go there? His accounting of Petitions by Abner Scofield point out the many contradictions in prayers, especially between what is prayed publicly and what Abner really wants, and also how as his wealth increased, he became less Christian. I imagine Twain had a lot of fun writing this.