A little explanation about satire. . .

Satire is one of the more difficult literary concepts to grasp because it's usually very subtle. But when studying Pudd'nhead Wilson, it is an important term to understand.

The short definition of satire is "putting something up to ridicule." Satire is a literary form through which a writer pokes fun at those aspects of society, especially those people and those social institutions, that the author thinks need to change. The author uses different methods to ridicule, like dry wit, irony, exaggeration, humor, or sarcasm. The intent of satire is to bring about change by making us laugh at our weaknesses and flaws.

Some authors are relatively gentle when they use satire, using humor to make us laugh at people who are silly, or vain, or self-absorbed, or ignorant. Others are more sarcastic, sometimes caustic, in making fun of institutions or ideas or people that need change (like corrupt politicians, or slavery, or greed).

Probably the best example of satire is Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." In his essay, Swift exposed an indifferent 18th century England that didn't seem to care about the huge numbers of starving and begging children in Ireland; his proposal, then, was that poverty-stricken Irish parents be paid to raise their children as food for the table, much in the way farmers are paid to raise sheep or cattle for meat. Then parents, Swift pointed out, wouldn't have to worry about how to support themselves and their many children, and it would solve the food shortage. He didn't mean it, of course, but it shocked and outraged people, raising questions about the English and their disdain for the Irish who were practically their fellow countrymen.

In Pudd'nhead Wilson, Twain good-naturedly makes fun of the unsophisticated people in the town of Dawson's Landing. The first example occurs in Chapter One, when Wilson makes the comment about wishing he owned half of a dog that's barking. If he did, he says, he'd shoot his half. The townspeople don't understand his subtle, dry wit and finally decide Wilson is soft-brained or a "pudd'nhead." The irony, of course, is that they are the pudd'nheads. Thus Twain is satirizing the townspeople and their pointed lack of intelligence.