Who Is "The" American?
What being a true American looks like, by way of Mark Twain
Editor’s Note: Have a question about what it’s like to be America’s Sweetheart? Don’t ask Matt. He’s so disillusioned with the gig, that he’s resigning in order to become America’s Sassy Black Neighbor With The Heart of Gold. Even though Matt’s white. (Or so he’s been told — Matt doesn’t see color.) Ask Matt all your non-racist questions at askmattlabash@gmail.com.
Dear Matt,
Mark Twain claimed he wasn't an American. He claimed he was THE American. Fast forward to today. Who is the average American? What is the average American's story?
B. Mays
Well first off, let’s stipulate that there is probably no other single American who has had more quotes misattributed to him than Mark Twain. (It turns out, Twain never said, “All right, all right, all right!” — that was Matthew McConaughey.) But false attributions keep the Twain train chugging along – probably much to his delight, if he has the ability in the hereafter to assess his own legacy. After all, as Twain himself said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Though sadly, he didn’t say that either.
But that said, I have deep affection for Twain. Please see the 2001 Ken Burns documentary on him, if you haven’t read Ron Powers’ excellent 2005 biography, and enjoy his fake quotes, as well as his real ones. Because I regard the fake quotes as aspirational – an attempt to think like Twain. If we all took the trouble of thinking more like Twain, our country would be much better off.
And if I had to describe Twain’s thinking about America in two words or less, it would be “reverent irreverence.” He bought in with his whole heart, sort of, but only because he believed in its stated ideals, while mocking its failure to live up to them.