Two Ways of Seeing a RiverBy Mark Twain 11/01/2012

Response from: Simerpreet Kaur

It is true that one of the reasons literature is considered beautiful is because there are no dominant or absolute answers. This piece of work by the well-known Mark Twain has raised questions in my mind. The style the author ended the essay with is most intriguing to me because it has very little or no relevance at all to the rest of the essay. After much consideration, I came up with a conclusion that the author has tried to relate himself to a doctor. He stated that he pities doctors because he thinks they have lost the eye for beauty when examining a maiden. He wonders if the doctors realise that they have lost something besides gaining the knowledge and skills of their trade. Similarly, the author had stated in the first paragraph that he had lost something. To my understanding, that ‘something’ must be his ability to be in awe and to be dumbfounded by the magnificent scene of the sunset painted by Mother Nature herself. His knowledge and experience had stolen his innocence.

I would like to compliment and not comment on this piece of work not only because I am much more inexperienced and immature compared to a writer of such status, but also because no matter how much I try to find an ugly side of this essay, my efforts are to no avail. Thus, the author has achieved his mission of impressing me with the rare talent he owns. He has made me interested in the river which I would not have bothered to look at if I had not read this essay. Each one of his words and phrases carry deep meanings – some even deeper than I can comprehend.

The last two lines of the essay had made a large impact on my view and only after reading those lines was I beginning to think and see from the author’s perspective. They made me feel pity just as the author did, and I wondered if doctors ever did take a break from searching and analysing the faults in others. They are always looking for the abnormalities in the exceptional. They see weakness in uniqueness. So, I shall repeat what the author had already asked; have doctors ‘gained most or lost most by learning their trade?’ These mere sentences have changed my opinion of doctors. In the past I used to think of doctors as humans of the highest status. In other words, i thought they were superior because of their favours to mankind. However, from today onwards, I wonder if I’ll ever feel that way again. Therefore, these are the sentences that I had a strong reaction to in this essay.

I find the choice of the word ‘blood’ in the phrase ‘A broad expanse of the river turned to blood’ in the 7th line of the essay, disturbing. Personally, I think the word ‘blood’ is strong because for me, it represents hurt, danger, violence and suffering. However, on the other hand, it also represents an important part of life. There will be no life without blood. So it evoked a sense of pain in me when I first read the essay. I was puzzled because the author could have used any other subject of comparison such as thick red paint or even syrup, but he specifically chose blood for a reason. Is the author trying to say that the river can be dangerous at times, cause blood to spill and yet be the utmost important factor in a civilisation? Well, that is what I understand of it.

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Two Ways of Seeing a RiverBy Mark Twain 11/01/2012

The essence of this essay is that everything has two sides to it. There are two sides to every story, two sides of a coin, two phases in a day, etcetera. There is always a partner. Basically, it is all related to the Yin and Yang concept. So the way I see it, the river has two sides to it too. It can be the source of life and yet be dangerous; it can reflect so many beautiful colours and be part of breathtaking sceneries but yet if its ‘language’ is misread, it could lead to disaster. In life, I have always tried to look at everything from many different perspectives. When conversing with someone, I try to put myself in the other person’s shoes. This way, I have a chance of feeling somewhat a little like what that other person feels when I say or do something. It sometimes makes me feel like a physic because I will kind of know how the other person is going to respond, unless he or she is not human and responds in a way I could not have imagined.

It is as though I have planned out an entire conversation with myself and am only using the other person’s body like a puppet. It sounds awkward and others may think that I am using voodoo but it is really just the ability of one to feel, to think and to express just like how most humans do. So before I disagree or argue with anyone on a certain subject, I pause to think like the other side, to see like him or her and to understand the reason behind what he or she said. It is all a question of perspective. I have found this ‘skill’, if you may call it that, very useful in understanding the different personalities in this wonderful world. Therefore, I have shared my personal experience of relating the two sides of everything and I can connect myself to this piece of work quite well in the sense that I know what the author felt when he wrote it.

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