How Does Mark Twain Use 'Cannibalism In The Cars'?

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Mark Twain wrote and published “Cannibalism in the Cars” in 1868, however, the meaning underlying the political cautionary tale persists one hundred and fifty-six years later, in modern 2024. Twain published “Cannibalism in the Cars” during the height of a mass political shift following the end of the Civil War and the transition into the reconstruction era that was met with great political unease. The era of political unease set the perfect stage for Twain’s story, as it lends the tension that brings importance to the metaphor Twain is exploring with “Cannibalism in the Cars”. Twain uses “Cannibalism in the Cars” as a device to open up conversation surrounding politics, Twain draws attention to the topic of voting and participation within …show more content…

Twain points out that the vote that is least heard, is oftentimes the voice that needs to be heard the most. He is bringing attention to the way in which the least heard group is often the most affected. While there may in this case only be one vote that is decided against, that voter is the most affected by the outcome, having not been heard he ultimately loses his voice further by losing his life. Twain’s metaphor does a wonderful job of pointing out the characteristics of our political system; he brings to the surface the animalistic, dehumanizing, fearful reality of those who participate in the United States political system. The dehumanizing nature of politics that “Cannibalism in the Cars” draws out is deeply analyzed by Adam Brooke Davis and Gerd Hurm, in their article “At the Margins of Taste and the Center of Modernity: Mark Twain’s ‘Cannibalism in the Cars’”. “The metaphor of cannibalism is tied to fear of major cultural realignments, fear that culture itself will ultimately fail in its essential function (as an idea, at any rate, if not in fact) of distinguishing the human from the "lower"

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