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The Invalid's Story Literary Devices

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In the last lines of Mark Twain’s “The Invalid’s Story,” he states, “This is my last trip; I am on my way home to die” (Twain 7). Twain’s writing incorporates dialect and satire- two things which make his writing distinct from other authors. The short narrative, “The Invalid’s Story,” provides readers with a storyline about a case of mistaken identity that leads to a man’s death. Various critics label this work as holding no literary value; however, many others consider it a prime example of his frontier-style humor for which he receives most of his fame. Although the story greatly focuses on death, Twain manages to leave the readers at ease using his authentic style of humor. “The Invalid’s Story” overflows with interesting themes and literary …show more content…

In this particular case, the narrator and Thompson believe they continually talk about a corpse, which can be considered an inanimate object; however, despite what they think, the two men actually describe two other objects: a box of guns and a piece of Limburger cheese. As the men begin their journey and the plot unfolds, the gunbox and cheese acquire a life of their own, distinctly stubbornness. The expressman, Thompson, points out the fruitlessness of their efforts to conceal the fragrance after each attempt only makes it worse. Thompson notes in “The Invalid’s Story,” “He just utilizes everything we put up to modify him with, and gives it his own flavor and plays it back on us” (Twain 6). David Galens provides another example of this literary device in Short Stories for Students when he remarks, “Ultimately, the ‘corpse’- which Thompson calls by a number of civil and military ranks, another human aspect- wins out, and Thompson notes that they can not beat him, and that they will have to stay outside the train all night” (Galens 151). He makes it seem as if the “corpse” willingly releases the stench, something that a corpse- or a gunbox and a piece of cheese- simply cannot do. Thompson also alludes to the “corpse” by several different military names: Colonel, Gen’rul, Commodore, and Governor. By simply giving nicknames to the “corpse,” it assigns yet another human-like characteristic to the inanimate

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