24 pages • 48 minutes read
Mark TwainThe War Prayer
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1905A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Mark Twain
Mark Twain was the pen name of writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, Twain spent his early years working as a newspaper editor, printer, prospector, and riverboat pilot. His first book, The Innocents Abroad, was published in 1869 and detailed his travels to Europe and the Holy Land. Throughout his life, Twain was a frequent traveler, both at home and abroad. In addition to several trips to Europe, Twain traveled to Hawaii, Nicaragua, the Caribbean, and India. Twain’s travels exposed him to many cultures, and he witnessed exploitation by imperialist governments. These experiences motivated Twain to serve as vice president of the American Anti-Imperialist League from 1901 until he died in 1910. During these years, Twain wrote “The War Prayer” illustrating the devastating effects of military aggression.
Other events in Twain’s later years might account for the portrayal of hypocrisy and ignorance of the characters in “The War Prayer,” which is considerably bleaker in tone than many of Twain’s earlier works. In 1894, a decade before he wrote “The War Prayer,” Twain filed for bankruptcy. Two years later, Twain’s eldest daughter, Susy, died of meningitis. Around the same time, Twain’s youngest daughter, Jean, was diagnosed with epilepsy. The health of Twain’s wife, Olivia, also deteriorated during this time, and she died of heart failure in 1904. In the months preceding her death, doctors advised Olivia to avoid contact with her husband so that she could rest, meaning that Olivia spent many of her final days separated from Twain. The hopelessness in “The War Prayer” may express the hopelessness Twain felt about his own life.
Socio-Historical Context: Imperialism and the Spanish-American War and Philippine-American War
Cuba was a colony of Spain. In the 1890s, Cuban revolutionaries rebelled against Spanish rule and fought for independence. Due to Cuba’s proximity to the United States, Americans monitored the conflict, and the public largely supported the revolutionaries. In February 1898, the USS Maine, which was in the area to protect American interests, exploded and sank in Havana Harbor. While the explosion was probably an accident, New York newspapers speculated and sometimes fabricated evidence that the Spanish military sank the ship. In April of that year, Congress voted to declare war on Spain, and President William McKinley sent thousands of troops to Cuba. The war ended in December with the Treaty of Paris, in which Spain ceded control of Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. The treaty also allowed Spain to sell the Philippines to the United States.
For the first time, the United States possessed overseas territory and could be labeled an empire. While some Americans supported this expansion of American power, others were opposed. The American Anti-Imperialist League, of which Twain was a member and served as vice president, was formed in 1898 in response to the actions taken by the United States government in Cuba and the Philippines.
In 1899, Filipino nationalists rebelled against the United States’ annexation of the country, leading to the Philippine-American War. The war lasted for three years. In that time, 4,200 Americans and over 20,000 Filipinos were killed fighting in the conflict. Worse yet, anywhere between 200,000 and one million Filipino citizens died during the war. In addition to violence, these citizens suffered many of the brutalities Twain outlines in “The War Prayer,” such as starvation, homelessness, and despair.
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