51 pages • 1 hour read
Mark TwainRoughing It
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1872A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Silver and Gold
Much of Roughing It is filled with conversations and speculation about gold or silver. These precious metals symbolize The Volatile Economies of the West, luring migrants from all over America and the world, driving economic booms that frequently end in catastrophic busts. By the time of Twain’s journey in 1861, the Gold Rush in California has long ended. However, this doesn’t prevent him from combing the same ground to pocket mine for gold when poverty overtakes him.
Gold mining and milling can ravage the landscape as mines are dug or blasted. Forests are felled to create support beams for mine tunnels. They are also needed to build houses in the boom towns that spring up in California and just as quickly disappear once the rush ends. Twain writes, “The men are gone, the houses have vanished, even the name of the place is forgotten. In no other land, in modern times, have towns so absolutely died and disappeared, as in the old mining regions of California” (414).
In contrast, the silver rush is still at its peak in Nevada. Virginia City sits atop the Comstock Lode so that this bustling metropolis surmounts an equally bustling metropolis below ground. Because the location is so inhospitable, the community is entirely dependent on silver to run its economy. The businesses that spring up are all geared toward serving the needs of the miners and supplying the raw materials necessary to keep the mines in operation. These, too, dwindle once the silver runs out. Just as the residents carve up the landscape for silver, the landscape reverts to its natural state once the silver runs out.
Tall Tales
Roughing It is replete with tall tales spun by one or another eccentric character. Tall tales symbolize the bluster that characterizes an expansionist mindset, an outgrowth of The Volatile Economies of the West. Throughout the book, Twain lives in close quarters with men who have come west to strike it rich. They are a subset of the greater community but share a common tendency to think big and talk bigger. Each one tries to outdo the last speaker with an impressive and improbable story. Twain gets his first taste of this exaggeration when a traveling companion named Bemis tells him of a buffalo hunt in which an enraged bull climbs a tree after Bemis, who is then forced to lynch and shoot the buffalo. Farther along the stage ride, Twain is regaled multiple times with the same story about Horace Greeley on a wild stage ride.
In Virginia City, Twain is encouraged to hear Blaine’s story about his grandfather’s ram. Of course, the ram never enters the story, but Blaine’s narrative is still an absurd and convoluted tale of a wandering glass eye and sundry other topics. While pocket mining in California, Twain encounters a miner who speaks of his wonderful cat, Tom Quartz. According to the miner, the cat is a skilled metallurgist who can sense when gold is present in a stream. Finally, Twain’s steps in Lahaina, Maui, are dogged by a compulsive liar who feels compelled to top whatever story Twain is telling. The man’s life comes to an ironic end when nobody believes his suicide note. Presumably, Twain carries a similar skepticism about all the tall tales he hears during his travels.
Boom-and-Bust Cycles
Roughing It contains many examples of people and towns going through boom-and-bust cycles. These cycles symbolize the vicissitudes of fortune and speak to the theme of Great Expectations. Initially, Twain has no ambition to become a millionaire, but he is surrounded by men who do, so he becomes infected with greed by osmosis. Like all the miners in the area, Twain also shares their sanguine belief that striking it rich is only days away. Each new failure deflates his grandiose expectations but never entirely destroys his conviction that wealth can be easily obtained.
First, he tries the lumber business but burns down a forest. Then, he attempts to cash in on a mythical cement mine where gold is embedded in the rock, but he is cut out by other miners. Frequently, Twain’s own laziness defeats him. He tries silver mining and squanders a rich claim by not starting to dig within the 10-day limit. He loses a fat commission for a silver transaction in New York by not overseeing the negotiations himself. He squanders what money he has by living the high life in San Francisco in anticipation of the silver transaction. He further compounds his errors by failing to sell his silver stock before the bubble bursts. Twain berates himself thoroughly as a “cheerful idiot.” He says of this time in his life, “I would not mention these things but for the fact that they so aptly illustrate the ups and downs that characterize life on the Pacific coast. A man could hardly stumble into such a variety of queer vicissitudes in any other country” (428).
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