Important+Quotations+Explained

Page 19- Fifth paragraph "This was the last feather. Tom had managed to endure everything else, but to have to remain publicly and permanently under such an obligation as this to a nigger, and to this nigger of all niggers- this was too much."

This is a passage where Tom gets saved by chambers in public. The authors writes this quote to show how Tom feels about blacks. Tom thinks that white people are greater then blacks and that he is degraded just to be saved by one. Tom thinks that this just crosses the line. He is fed up with chambers and is upset that people think chambers is a father figure to Tom. Toms peers do not like him and when ever possible they pick on Tom. Chambers is just trying to do his job to his master and doesn't understand why Tom acts this way.

Page 41- Second paragraph "'I've knelt to a nigger wench!' he muttered. I thought I had struck the deepest depths of degration before, but oh, dear, it was nothing to this.... well, there is one consolation, such as it is- I've struck bottom this time, there's nothing lower."

In this passage Tom find out that his real mother is a slave. The author writes this to show the relationship Tom has with the slaves. Tom doesn't know how to react at first but then comes to the conclusion nothing in life could get any worse. Tom is saying that him being black is the worst thing that could ever happen. Tom reflects his feelings in his words in the quote. Tom does not like slaves or blacks and to be one is just too much. The author does a good job to show that being black or white doesn't mean anything and the irony of the book is shown.

Page 122- First paragraph "The real heir suddenly found himself rich and free, but in the most embarrassing situation. He could neither read nor write, and his speech was the basest dialect of the Negro quarter. His gait, his attitudes, his gestures, his bearing, his laugh - all were vulgar and uncouth; his manners were the manners of a slave."

This is the last page of the book. It is the ending and conclusion to this ironic book. The author writes this quote to show how being black or white doesn't mean anything. A white person who grows up with blacks can turn out to be just like them. A white person who grows up with rich white people can also end up being like the people they grew up with. Color doesn't really matter. Its just a stereotype people use in society. Twain uses this quote to show how the real Tom doesn't fit his role in society. He is not how he "should" have ended up as a adult. Hes a embarrassment of a hier.