You are silly Good Little Boy

I could not get through The Good Little Boy without laughing. Not only did the little boy say some of the most absurd things some of it makes sense in the regard that according to many church ideas, a person should do their best not to sin. The good little boy was just trying to follow the teachings.

One of my favorite parts was when the little boy wanted to be put into a picture book like the other good little boys and he describes himself as “standing on the doorstep giving a penny to a poor beggar-woman with six children, and telling her to spend it freely, but not to be extravagant, because extravagance is a sin…” This makes me laugh because he does not think about what he is saying it seems like. Give a penny, although I am sure a penny was worth a little more than it is now, to a beggar-woman and after telling her to spend it freely reminds her that extravagance is a sin! He is first of all expecting that a penny will buy something extravagant, which it cannot, and secondly that the beggar-woman is even considering using it in such a way. Comments like these however, are made through the entire story and it makes the situations that much more funny.

Twain did a great job parodying these situations. It is actually one of the first pieces by Twain that I really enjoyed. I think he was trying to make a point that a person should not meddle in another person’s life because it will in turn harm yourself and not the other person. I could really see myself getting deeper into pieces like this, especially if they make me laugh. I do wonder however, if Mark Twain had a specific reason for making such a story or if he just went to church thought of a good little boy and decided to make a statement on that? Either way, he got me to really think about the situation and what he was saying about society.