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On November 30, 1835, Mark. Twain was born in Florida, Missouri, to a poor family of lawyers. mark. Twain's family has seven children, the father is a local lawyer, the income is meager, the life is poor, little Mark. Twain had to start working to support his family while he was in school.
Unfortunately, at the age of eleven, Mark. Twain's father died, and since then he has lived independently, working as an apprentice in a printing house, a newspaper delivery clerk, a typestreaker, a sailor, a journalist, and other work, and these experiences have provided him with many inspirations for his later creations.
mark. Many of Twain's works are from a critical point of view, criticizing the irrational phenomena of society and the ugly side of human nature. Stylistically, humor and irony have become characteristics of his writing.
Take the work "Million Pound Sterling", the minor characters that appear in the novel, such as restaurant owners, tailor shop managers, etc., although the author does not clearly point out that they "only recognize money and do not recognize people", but from the contrast between their attitudes before and after Henry, it clearly shows that the society at that time was in a state of worship of gold such as "money is omnipotent, and nothing can be done without money".
"Million Pound Sterling" is a comedy-style novel about a destitute clerk, Henry of the United States, who wanders the streets of London, England, because of a chance, while he is worried about eating and drinking.
The two rich brothers made a bet to lend Henry an undeliverable million-dollar note to see how he would end up a month later. When the one-month deadline expired, Henry, instead of starving to death on the streets, made a fortune with the bill and won the heart of a beautiful lady.
The storyline of the novel and its brevity, characters and language style give people a sense of humor. In fact, it attacks the worship of money in contemporary Anglo-American society and the unhealthy trend of not having money.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >01. What happened to him from a tramp to a millionaire? </h1>
Henry in the story is a poor young man who earns a living on a meager income. His profession is to manipulate investors' stocks every day and help them make more money, which is stockbrokers.
The so-called stockbrokers are in direct contact with the investment public, and their duty is to accept the entrustment of investors, buy and sell on behalf of the exchange, and charge investors a certain commission after the transaction of the transaction.
Although it is not a well-paid job, it allows him to support himself without falling into the streets. If there were no accidents, Henry would have been working on the exchange for decades.
One day, however, Henry went out to sea after work as usual. Unexpectedly, he was swept by a storm and almost died. Later, Henry was rescued by a British cruise ship, and he followed the cruise ship to England. When an accident happens, it really doesn't give people any time to think.
Henry wandered to England without any mental preparation, in a foreign land, and the most troublesome problem for Henry was to eat, wear, live and travel. Having experienced the struggle against the sea, Henry in front of him was ragged and hungry. Just when he was worried about his stomach and hesitated to pick up the pear on the ground to eat, the concierge of the hotel opened the door and invited him into the hotel.
In the hotel, two old English gentlemen handed Henry an envelope and invited him to leave the hotel. Henry then discovered that the envelope contained a million pounds, but no one told him what had happened.
For Henry, the most urgent thing at the moment is to fill his stomach and find a stable place to live. So, carrying the million-dollar pound, he went into the restaurant to eat.
Unexpectedly, that million pound became Henry's pass in London, not only allowing him to fill his stomach and find a good place to live, but also to be interviewed by reporters in the column and become the object of discussion in the whole city, while the British aristocracy began to invite Henry to their ball, and finally he befriended a beautiful and kind girl, Portia.
From a tramp to a millionaire, Henry's life underwent earth-shaking changes, and these changes not only changed his identity, but also his psychological cognition.
According to psychologist Abraham. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, human needs like a ladder from low to high, divided into five categories according to levels: physiological needs, security needs, emotional and belonging needs, respect needs, and self-actualization needs.
When the needs of the first layer of human beings are satisfied, they will develop to the needs of the higher layer and pursue the needs of the higher level, so the needs of the higher layer will become the driving force for human struggle.
The five needs can be divided into three levels: high, medium, and low. Among them, physiological needs and safety needs are low-level needs, and they are also the most fundamental needs for human survival, and these needs can be met through external conditions.
When Henry wandered to London, he saw the pears that the child had nibbled on and threw on the street, trying to pick them up and eat them for fear of being seen by passers-by. At this time, Henry is inferior and helpless in the face of his own survival situation, and his physiological and security needs far exceed the needs of respect and self-realization.
When he got a million pounds of virtual checks, Henry went to the restaurant to eat, the restaurant owner changed his attitude to him, the tailor shop manager went from contempt to condescension, Henry was respected by others, even adored, and he realized the need from physical and safety to respect.
Later, Henry stayed in a luxury hotel and attended a high-society party, where he also met the beautiful and kind Portia. At this point, Henry begins to become hypocritical and gold-worshipping, while at the same time satisfying his emotional and belonging needs.
In just one month, Henry's life from poverty to sitting on his success, from no one to everyone sought after, which made Henry's sense of need quickly rise from low to high, and his psychological changes also changed from inferiority, helplessness to hypocrisy, gold worship, self-positioning and self-perception underwent a huge change.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02.Was Henry's success a personal factor or a social environment? </h1>
If a person's needs are met, then he will begin to look for new pursuits. For Henry, staying in a high-end luxury hotel, attending a high-society party, and living drunk and dreaming of death every day is his new pursuit, as the text says: "I go all the way, I want to buy anything, go in and buy, and then tell them to find money." ”
However, this sought after life is not indefinite. In a month's time, Henry will return the fictitious check and return to a peaceful life, perhaps even to the poverty of the past.
For this reason, Henry believed that he could not wait for the position promised by the two old gentlemen, and that he must find a way out for himself. So he decided to rescue his former colleague Lloyd, who was dragged down by stocks, and took a commission from it.
Henry advised Lloyd to sell the shares in his name, and he went out to assure Lloyd of his character to those who bought them. In Henry's view, with the popularity of him and his popularity in London, it was not difficult to facilitate this event.
Sure enough, as he expected, the people, with Henry's assurances, frantically bought a large number of shares, and Henry also earned twenty pounds in commission. Even if the two old gentlemen did not keep their promise, Henry would no longer live on the streets in London.
In fact, Henry has such a big change, there are two factors: one is his own consciousness, and the other is the pursuit of the public. If it was a coincidence that millions of pounds fell from the sky and fell into Henry's hands, then it was inevitable that he would use this virtual check to make a fortune.
Henry was once a poor young man, walking down the street in rags, and no one would bother. However, after everyone learned that Henry was a millionaire, everyone wanted to come and give it to him. Living in a society that "looks to money", Henry understands that as long as there is money, he can talk about self-esteem, and as long as he has money, he will be looked up to.
There is an old Chinese saying: "If a person has no far-reaching worries, he will have near-term worries." This means that if one does not have a long-term plan, then the trouble must be in front of him. This phrase could not be more appropriate to describe Henry.
Immersed in a life of red wine every day, Henry still understands his situation, and he knows that he must make long-term plans for his future. So, Henry came to the rescue of Lloyd not just out of kindness, but more out of helping himself.
As Henry's popularity increased, more and more people became aware of Henry's existence, and more and more people were eager to build a relationship with him. When Henry went to the restaurant to eat, the boss said to him: "Come whenever you want, order whatever you want, the account can be credited, and you can take as long as you want on credit." ”
It is not so much that they are subservient to Henry as they are out of the worship of money, and Henry just took advantage of the weakness of "human nature's desire for money" to make a lot of money.
In fact, Henry's selection by two old gentlemen was definitely not an accident. Before identifying Henry, they had observed many people in the hotel, who "looked honest but not intelligent enough; many looked clever but not honest enough; many were both, but not poor enough, if poor enough, and not foreign." Anyway, it's either a little bit worse than this, or it's a little bit worse than that. ”
Therefore, Henry was carefully selected by the two old gentlemen. From the point of view of the old gentleman's selection, Henry has the advantages of honesty and intelligence, and these advantages are also indispensable factors for Henry's success.
A person's success can never be a one-sided result, but a combination of many factors such as himself, the surrounding environment and the social environment. However, the most influential thing is mainly in their own thinking and decision-making about the matter itself.
Henry, for example, can enjoy a carefree, sought after life, and when the deadline is up, he can return to his old life. However, Henry was not a shallow man. Behind this experience, he felt the charm of money and took the opportunity to change his situation.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >03</h1>
mark. Twain is a representative of American humor literature, and many of his novellas use humorous and witty language styles, skillfully combining humor with the dark, realistic distortions of contemporary society.
In The Million Pounds, in order to show a sharp style of humor, Mark . Twain uses a combination of tragedy and joy to create a humorous atmosphere.
Henry is an insignificant, street dweller who accidentally receives a "pie falling from the sky" and dramatically gets a million pounds of virtual banknotes.
For the two old gentlemen, Henry was always a plaything in their hands, a tragic figure. However, Henry used this banknote to live a glorious life, and finally harvested sweet love, and successfully completed the counterattack of life.
mark. Through Henry, a figure with tragic and joyful colors, Twain reveals the bad social atmosphere that exists in contemporary British and American society that "money can make ghosts grind".
In addition, Mark. Twain also uses strong contrasts to enhance the humor of the story.
When Henry entered the tailor's shop in rags, the clerk's attitude toward him at first was to ignore him, but after seeing the millions of bills he showed, the boss immediately changed his attitude, bowed to him, and saddled up.
In order to highlight the various kinds of money worshippers, the author describes it in the text: "I even keep my worn-out clothes and wear them from time to time, so that I can regain the pleasures of the past, that is, to run to buy something worthless, and after being humiliated, pull out the million-pound bill, so that the people who make fun of me have no place to look at themselves." ”
In Million Pound Sterling, Mark. Twain focused on portraying a series of money-worshiping images in order to provoke contemporary reflection and to reveal the ills of the rapid development of capitalism, and money should not be the standard of respect for people in capitalism.
Simmel once said, "In any age individual is greedy for money. ”
However, once human nature falls into greed, it becomes infinitely distorted. In the novel, the nobles of high society have been given a rich life, but due to the weakness of human nature's "dissatisfaction", they are still dissatisfied with what they have, which also creates a distortion of their human nature, and the nobles gather around Henry, which just reflects their infinite worship of money.
Mark Twain, however, hated this "money is everything" ethos. Therefore, although the story of "Million Pound Sterling" is set in the United Kingdom, what he really wants to attack is the social climate in the United States.
With the help of novels, Mark Twain wanted to reveal the idea of the supremacy of money in the social environment where money worship prevailed, especially the distortion of human nature in the face of money, and the ruthless exposure, criticism and criticism of money worshippers, hoping to make people realize the darkness and ugliness of society.
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