Reading Response Extracts from the Diaries of Adam and Eve by Marc Twain Essay Example

she sees, she thinks that he is pleased and that she is preventing him from the embarrassment of not being very good at it.

From Adam’s diaries: “The new creature names everything that comes along before I can get in a protest”(p 184), “it is a mere waywardness and imbecility”(p 184), “the naming goes recklessly…”(p 185) whereas from Eve’s diaries we see” During the last day or two I have taken all the work of naming things off his hand, and this has been a great relief to him, for he has no gift in that line and he is evidently grateful”(p 194).

Moreover, she decides to name both of them “we” and while she thinks he is pleased with it he thinks that he has no other choice than using it:” I used the sociable “we” a good deal, because it seemed to flatter him to be included” (p. 194) and “ “we “again- that is its word; mine too, now, from hearing it so much. ”(p 186). Finally the feminine innocence is shown when she thinks he enjoys her presence at first “He seemed to be pleased to have me around” (p 194) while he shows how he is annoyed by her in his diaries “My life is not as happy as it was” (p. 85).

It is important to mention that twain reoriented the gender hierarchy of Western Cultures by giving Eve the first choice instead of Adam. However, at the same time he reinforced, through his sensitive writing, the established stereotype roles for women. For example She says “For he is strong, I am weak, I am not

as necessary to him as he is to me…” (p. 197). Illustrations have an important role in affecting the reader. Twain uses them to bring these two people to life. On the one hand, Adam’s diaries illustrations portrayed a modern Stone Age.

They are craved with clarifying images on stone. When Adam builds a shelter against the rain for himself but “It Intrudes”(p 184) the illustration of the shelter is funny showing ad for a “Queen Anne “house complete with listing price $1,500. It also shows Adam’s hand pushing “it” out into the rain. On the other hand, Eve’s diaries were done in Art Deco style. They show purity because both characters are portrayed nude and they show nature more in order to reintroduce beauty of nature in our daily life. I find this text really interesting because it is a new version of Adam and Eve’s story.

We get to look into their lives and see what life might have been for them. It is sweet and lighthearted. It shows gender differences, how the male is always at first annoyed, not showing his emotions and how the female is so in awe of everything, how she looks at the world through fresh eyes and see so much beauty in it; but I also think there is a remarkable heartfullness shining through. It shows a beautiful balance. Both Adam and Eve are trying to understand one another, make themselves available to the other and know they are not so different at heart.

However, I disliked the absence of God in the passage. One of the major aspects of the Bible story is

God’s relationship with Adam and Eve in the beginning and that is completely absent. At the end, we see that love triumphs after a lifetime of labor. Twain manages to use humor and thought provoking situations to really involve the reader. This text challenges your way of looking at the world around you. It brings a smile, a tear and thankfulness at the ways we can learn from one another.