Clemons' Frankenstein

While sitting at a party with her husband and friends, Mary Shelley created the world’s most well known and beloved monster: Frankenstein’s monster. Since Frankenstein’s exclamation “It’s alive!” critics have disputed the humanity of the creature that has become a household name.

But this post isn’t about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

On November 30, 1835, a young lad was born in the little Mississippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri. Samuel L. Clemons grew up dreaming of life on the river. As a young man he fulfilled his dream by becoming a riverboat captain on the Mississippi. For Sam, life moved with the ever-changing flow of the river. The river was his life source and passion. But the river was also the inception of Clemons’ own monster.

After the death of his younger brother, Clemons left Hannibal and the Mississippi for the booming West. Out west, Clemons revived his writing talent and published several short stories in the local paper, the most famous of which is “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” As his popularity increased, Clemons created his alter ego—his penname—Mark Twain.

The monster Clemons created displayed a will of its own. Just as the monster Frankenstein created by grafting together dead body parts. The creator no longer had reign over his creation. Frankenstein spent the bulk of his existence chasing the shadow of his monster. So much so, that our culture attributes the name ‘Frankenstein’ to the creation, not the creator.

Such is the life of Samuel Clemons after the introduction of the bold, sarcastic, and brilliant Mark Twain. Though Twain’s works creatively retell the memories and adventures of one Samuel Clemons, no one remembers the old riverboat captain. In fact, I would go as far to say that most of the world would be stumped if asked, “who is Samuel Clemons?”

Samuel Clemons struggled against Mark Twain’s overwhelming popularity for the rest of his life. No one cared about Sam Clemons, the family man—they wanted to know Mark Twain the humorist and brilliant author of common American life. 


Clemons created his monster and spent his life reeling in the shadows of Mark Twain.

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