Mark Twain’s Unknown Legacy
By Dan Mathews
Senior Vice President
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Norfolk , VA
One hundred years after his death, the long-anticipated release of Mark Twain’s Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1—complete and unexpurgated for the first time—is prompting an assessment of his legacy almost as wide as the Mississippi.
But there is an aspect of Twain’s legacy that many aren’t aware of: He was America’s first notable animal rights activist.
Animals were always central to Twain’s writing, from his first stories through his final years. His Huckleberry Finn is reduced to sobs after studying the limp body of a songbird he killed for sport, swearing he’ll never kill another creature again. Inspired by Darwin, Twain observed animals wherever he traveled and wrote of their distinct personalities. Many of his animal-related pieces are spotlighted in Mark Twain’s Book of Animals.
In his later years, Twain wrote pamphlets for various animal protection groups—most notably those targeting bullfighting and experimentation on live animals. Wrote Twain about the latter: “The pains which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity towards it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further.”
To find out more about Twain’s visionary advocacy for animals, please visit www.PETA.org.
