Adam & Eve, and Men & Women

March 22nd, 2012
[Realism-Mark Twain's Adam's Diary and Eve's Diary]
Ho InHee




There are thousands of books that deal with the difference between men and women. John Gray wrote many of books on this issue including ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’. Other books, such as ‘The Essential Difference’ or ‘Why Men Don’t Listen & Why Women Can’t Read Maps”, are examples that exhibit differences between men and women. In addition, Mark Twain’s ‘Adam’s Diary’ and ‘Eve’s Diary’ are also the same kind. In Adam’s Diary, Adam, representing man, writes how he views Eve. In Eve’s Diary the perspective is vice verse. In each perspective, Mark Twain tried to examine each gender’s nature.

Back in 1800s, women’s life was quite different from that today. Women didn’t have the right to vote. They were considered somewhat subordinate to men. Terms like ‘republican motherhood’ reflect this idea. Taking this background, Mark Twain's contemplation on men and women's potential is laudable. And he actually accurately observed the differences between for most parts. However, there are some crucial aspects, which he missed.

Men in ‘Adam’s Diary’ and ‘Eve’s Diary’ are instinct-driven. Adam is highly simple-minded. He doesn’t like to be controlled. He doesn’t think, and always seeks for adventure and pleasure. Yet because we may have lived in a civilized society for so long, men aren’t simply instinct-driven. As I’m not a male, I cannot tell exactly how men’s mind work or; how men are motivated. But realizing that there are thousands of boys and men around the world, I can assure all aren’t always driven by instinct. Putting men as an instinct-driven character was seen as an oversimplification of men to me. Upon many things Mark Twain didn’t point out in the story, I thought the ‘urge to control’ is another crucial nature of men. When watching a bunch of kids playing, usually girls tend to play house whereas boys set their own ‘kingdom’. This can be seen as example of men’s urge to control.

Mark Twain describes women somewhat ideally. Women depicted in Adam/Eve’s Diary are very caring, intelligent, and vulnerable. Nevertheless, he didn't explain to the point where the emotional vulnerability of a woman lies on. ALthough both men and women do have emotions, women are always more emotional and like to express their emotions into tears. On the other hand, women are more careful when expressing their emotions outwardly sometimes. Women may be much more concerned about relationships and communication from birth, or there may be other underlying reasons. Moreover, women aren’t simply more ‘intelligent’ than men as described in the story. When women are represented as intelligent, Mark Twain portrayed women as those who tend to name everything. Women’s propensity to make things certain can be explained in numerous ways. Women’s tendency to name can be seen as their act of guaranteeing and making things certain. It can also be a method of their communication.

After reading Mark Twain’s ‘Adam/Eve’s Diary’, I felt a little uncomfortable for its sharpness and directness. The book pinpointed men and women so straightforward and outward that I even felt I was being seen through. I could also see Mark Twain's life in the story. Fighting for women suffrage for most of his life, the book directly reflected his values, and I really enjoyed reading it. I think this book has great value even today. However, there were some points Mark Twain has missed.






+) I tried to stick a little more to the 'larger concern'-though I had tough time connecting this story to realism, so I decided to focus on 'men and women'. And I paid extra attention on vocab and grammar..!




{Comments}

Sol Kim: First and foremost, I agree with your point that the story has a great value even if we just take care of the fact that how Twain tried to write in such perspective. Also, the part of inaccuracies seemed to be quite reasonable also.
But what I thought was: 1. the accuracies mattered to only what Twain tried to express, in my opinion. (I thought Twain wanted to show how women are smart and active -> eventually insisting for women suffrage) because thee are too many inaccuracies throughout the story if I try to see it closely!
2. I don't understand the women point much though I'm a women.....ㅋㅋ Can you gie me some more explanation with examples?