Social Status in Steamboat Period
In the book Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain writes about his experiences on learning to be a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the Civil War during the mid-1800s, but he also mentions a lot on the aspects of people, life, and the river. Within the narration on learning experiences, Twain perceives the social status on the steamboat upon different kinds of people who worked on the steamboats along the Mississippi River, by his keen sense with observation on their speeches, attitudes and behaviors in the text. First, Twain narrates people’s speeches that indicate their distinguishable social status. In a case, one of the steamboat mates was a gigantic person with brawn and his whiskers grew all over his face. ... Even though some people might think his speech is rude, Twain still credits him as in the high social status. ... Bixby’s speech as well to show his status. ... The navigation of the whole steamboat was under the control of Mr. ... In this situation, it reflects that he was in a higher standing within the social status on the steamboat and shows that he was also a trusting and respectable pilot for the captain. Second, Twain implies people’s apparent social status through their attitudes towards others. ... Bixby showed his higher level on the social status in his attitude by the way that he instructed Twain patiently and amiably with his acquaintance of all the details on the river and piloting. ... Brown on another steamboat, Mr. ... Brown noticed the steamboat seem to be heading toward some unusual point near the reef, he yelled at him to stay away from the wheel and get out of the pilothouse.