Student Question
What motivated Mark Twain to become a cub-pilot on a Mississippi riverboat in Life on the Mississippi?
Quick answer:
Mark Twain was motivated to become a cub-pilot due to his lifelong fascination with steamboats and the Mississippi River. After his father's death when Twain was 11, he left school to support his family, initially derailing his steamboat pilot aspirations. At 18, he convinced a pilot to train him, with training costs deducted from his salary. During this period, he adopted the pen name "Mark Twain," derived from a boating term indicating safe water depth.
Mark Twain’s first into the career of steamboat cub-pilot is well-documented. He was always very interested in the profession and was fascinated by traveling the Missouri River. However, when he was 11, his father passed away and he had to leave school to pursue work to help support his family, derailing his opportunity to legitimately get trained to be a steamboat pilot.
When he was 18, after working as a typesetter, writing articles, and teaching himself at night, he convinced a pilot to take him on as a cub-pilot. The cost of his training was deducted from his salary on the boat, but he enjoyed the work. It was during this time that he finds his pen name, as he was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens. His name, Mark Twain, comes from the boating term for “twelve feet”, the necessary water depth for safe passage.
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