In his short story “How the Author was Sold in Newark,” Mark Twain contemplates one of his lectures that didn’t go as planned. During this particularly humiliating lecture, he learned that wisdom is a virtue that should always be sought. However, it often can’t be obtained without attentiveness to surroundings and knowledge of the whole truth.
A Scheduled Lecture
Twain states that he must make a confession. This particular confession will serve as a balm to his wounded self, even though, he confesses, “I don’t know what balm is, but I believe it is the correct expression to use in this connection—never having seen any balm.” Regardless, he wishes to confess a rather unpleasant event that left him rather embarrassed, so that he can heal himself and criticize the young man who brought it all upon him.It began with a scheduled lecture. Twain was scheduled to speak in front of a society for young men on a specific day and, in the afternoon of that specific day, he had the chance to meet one of the young men from the society.
