Conformity In Mark Twain's Corn Pone Opinions

Mark Twain’s purpose in “Corn-Pone Opinions” is to inform the reader that it is human nature to conform to the rest of society. According to Twain,”self-approval is acquired mainly from the approval of other people. The result is conformity.” (Twain 720). While humans provide opinions, many of them are based from the association with others. Twain claims that it is a basic human instinct to receive approval, mostly that of others. In his essay, Furthermore, Twain is attempting to persuade the reader to stop conforming to what society wants. It is through this process that many individuals abandon their own beliefs and principles.

Twain begins the essay with the pronoun “I”, but quickly shift to “we” in the next couple paragraphs. In the first paragraphs Twain uses “I” as he

mentions how society and conformity work, but as he starts to describe the effect of approval he switches to “we”. This change is significant because it demonstrates the impact conformity has, even on the author himself. Twain is not immune from this approval and even states “we are creatures of outside influences; as a rule, we do not think, we only imitate” (Twain 719). “We” portrays Twain’s claim of society functioning only under self-approval. Additionally, conformity is as natural instinct that is difficult to resist, and as the essay goes on, Twain includes himself as another individual who has bent under its power.
The anecdote Twain includes of the slave who gave him the idea for corn-pone ideas definitely adds, instead of detracting from his argument. It depicts a real-life example of an issue in American history. The young slave was a preacher who was overlooked because of the color of his skin. Slavery and discrimination were important beliefs in the South, if your neighbor believed it, so would you. This demonstrates the extent of conformity, man must “get his opinions from other people; he must reason out none for himself” (Twain 718). From the beginning, a sense of approval and belonging was crucial for society. Moreover, he idea of discrimination was adopted by people who were told to believe in their superiority over blacks. The idea was to keep in line with what the majority, the ones with power, believed.
Twain expands on Jerry’s definition of corn-pone opinions by pointing out that people are influenced by others whether they want to or not. In order for man to succeed “ he must restrict himself to corn-pone opinions-at least on the surface” (Twain 718). According to Twain and Jerry, there truly is never a time when man thinks by himself. It is human nature to follow the ideas proposed by your surroundings. The purpose of numbering the two items where Twain begins to expand on Jerry’s definition is to make the difference between the two more apparent. Jerry was on the right track claiming individuals conform to society, not intentionally but naturally.
Twain utilizes the appeal of logos through the subject of hoop skirts, bloomers, and wine glasses. It strengthens Twain's argument by providing examples of cultural statements that were adopted because of conformity. Twain introduces England’s wine glasses custom and claims “we have not adopted this new fashion yet, but shall do it presently” (Twain 719). In his explanation, fashion and customs are just another example of society’s inborn requirement of approval. In the same way, the hoop skirt comes and goes as a woman’s neighbor notices the new fashion. Humans do not think, but instead resort to imitating its surroundings.
Twain’s qualifications of Jerry’s statement of calculation and intention in paragraph 6 can be seen as ironic. The reason there seems to be irony is because Twain claims man “must get his opinions from other people; he must reason out none for himself” (Twain 718). While many would believe their thoughts are well planned and thought out, Twain argues they have just developed through the influence of other. If this is true, then Twain’s essay should be considered a “corn-pone opinion” itself. He came up with this idea through Jerry’s statement, not on his own.
Paragraph 14 is so long because Twain discusses three different corn-pone opinions, morals, religions, and politics. He claims these are all areas in which individuals are influenced by “surrounding influences and atmospheres, almost entirely; not from study, not from thinking” (Twain 719). I believe Twain could not have broken the paragraph up because of how smoothly it all flows. The three different kinds of opinions are all influenced by one thing, self-approval. The series of subordinate clauses in the middle of the paragraph serves to strengthen the author’s argument. Twain is attempting to bring light to the questions of why people classify themselves as “Baptist” or “Republicans”. To which he then answers is because of an individual’s influences, if their neighbor is republican, it is very likely he will identify himself as one too.
By using parallelism in the two long sentences that make up paragraph 14, Twain covers all sides of his argument. He discusses the idea of men coming up with great political questions on their own. In the end, all that they seek is to feel “they are happy in their party’s approval” (Twain 720). The parallelism creates a smooth balance that emphasizes an issue that continues to go on today, conformity. Individuals remain chasing approval from others, and when they do have it, they continue to follow others. They swarm around society and can only be happy with its approval.
At the end of the essay twain capitalizes “Public Opinion” and “Voice of God”.

Twain capitalizes these phrases to catch the reader’s attention and to focus the importance held by public opinion. Twain argues “its name is Public Opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think of it as the Voice of God” (Twain 720). Twain breaks it down into four sentences to show the relation between the two. The approval of others has begun to hold a strong importance in people’s life, that it even overshadows everything else. Some even acknowledge it as if it was the voice of God, guiding them through life.

In the first paragraph “helping to inhabit” contributes to the essay’s tone by establishing Mark Twain as a boy who was once just as ordinary as the rest of the world. Much like everyone else Twain’s beliefs were silenced as he claims they were “forbidden by mother to take part of it” (Twain 715). Twain is just another human in society who has been influenced by his surroundings. This phrase contributes to Twain’s argument of voicelessness, a setting in which he too took part in. The essay had a questioning tone, one Twain can relate to because he suffered from conformity as

well.
Mark Twain’s “Corn-Pone Opinions” includes a variety of understatements and hyperboles to emphasize the influence of self-approval. An example of an understatement is included in the first paragraph of Twain’s essay. He goes on to describe a friend who was a slave and whom he was very close to but “was forbidden by mother to take part of it” (Twain 715). Twain introduces his friend, Jerry, who is also a slave as if it was something ordinary. However, having a friend who is a slave during times of discrimination is of very much importance. Further on, Twain argues Jerry was overlooked, an act that was more than common during those times. An example of a hyperbole is “presently the skirt has vanished out of the world” (Twain 718). Twain utilizes this hyperbole to emphasize the effect conformity has on the world. Once a woman abandons the hoopskirt, her friends will follow until the skirt is no longer seen as fashionable.