Introduction
Conscience functions as a judge in one’s mind and thus plays a great role in defining individuals’ behavior. It also helps one to differentiate what is right and wrong. Conscience is a universal inner feeling that shows one the standards of laws required of them, which gets embedded in their heart. In this article, the first part will explain the purpose and duties of conscience as depicted in the Mark Twain story, The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut. It will also explain the different ways in which the narrator has been harassed by his conscience throughout his life. The second part of the article will involve letter writing from Mark Twain’s other story, The $1,000,000 Bank-Note.
Duties and purpose of conscience
The first duty of conscience is to point out what one ought to do. It shows one his or her obligation as far as behavior and conduct are concerned, and at the same time attempts to prevent one from doing what is wrong. The voice that one hears is the sense of oughtness which is interior. The conscience of the narrator showed him what he was supposed to do when faced with a situation or how to behave when with his brother, children, and even friends or his significant others.
Conscience also plays a judicial function by judging our thoughts, attitudes, actions, and conduct. It accuses one when on the wrong; hence the feeling that he or she is being judged by another person (Twain, p. 8). The narrator is being judged by his conscience and imagines that it is a person talking and reminding him of the bad things he had done. It reminded him of how he turned down a lady who wanted his help, how he once punished his children and how he unfairly treated his brother.
The third conscience role is an executive function that punishes one after committing a wrong. The punishment may come in different forms such as fear, shame, internal conflict, or even depression. The narrator experienced punishment for the wrong things he did. For example, he experienced fear due to his smoking habit, and the guilt of treating others badly kept on resurfacing in his heart and at times did not want to remember them.
Different ways in which the narrator feels harassed
The narrator was never at peace with himself due to his wrong deeds which led to him being harassed by his conscience. His conscience made him develop a strong feeling of fear. Due to his bad habit, his conscience made him fear his aunt whom he respected very much. He felt the fear because he loved his aunt and would not want to do anything wrong in her presence, and so any time he thought of his aunt, his conscience would remind him about the bad habit of smoking thus reinforcing the fear in him.
Conscience harassed the narrator by making him have internal conflict. When the conscience which came in the form of a dwarf person reminded him about the bad things he did, he referred to it as a devil. He also called the dwarf an ash cat among other abusive language, failing to realize that he was just but fighting with his conscience (Twain, p. 8).
Conscience made him feel ashamed of the wrong things he committed, for example when he punished his kids for a wrong they did not commit, this made him feel miserable whenever his conscience reminded him about it. He also felt ashamed when he remembered how he ignored an Indian who was poor and was in the wilds of the rocky mountains.
Conscience made the narrator feel guilty especially when he remembered how he hurt and abused his brother who loved and trusted him and would follow him like a dog. He felt guilty about how he threw his brother on ice and then started laughing.
He was also harassed by his conscience which made him feel depressed. His conscience judged him on the wrong things he did and because he did not want to remember he felt remorseful which resulted in depression.
$1000, 000 Bank-Note
Dear son,
How are you, my son? I hope you are growing strong and healthy. I also hope you working hard in school to have a good future. How is everybody else doing? Pass my regards to them.
My dear son, I am writing this letter to give you a piece of advice and at the same time to share with you a secret about how I became a millionaire and the most respected and famous person. I used to be a desperate person but I know it is very hard for you to believe this after the fame I left behind (Twain, p. 19). Had nothing to eat and would roam in the streets looking for something from the damping site to put into my mouth. My clothes were tattered and nobody wanted to see me around because of my desperate situation and thus people would throw all sorts of insults at me.
My loving son, nobody knows how tomorrow will be. So one day as I was roaming around and about in the mid-morning hours and had no money to buy food or even to shelter myself, a child dropped a pear and because of how hungry I was, I stopped and started salivating at the muddy pear and at the same time my stomach was craving for it. As I was still standing there waiting for an opportune time when nobody would see me taking the pear, somebody called me from a window of a house which was right behind me.
Little did I know that this call would change my lifestyle! My lovely son, I did not ignore the call and so I got inside the room where I found two old men. These old men had a hot argument on what would happen if an honest and intelligent man who was a stranger and had no friends in London was given a $ 1000,000 bank note (Twain, p. 19). One man said that the man would die of starvation because he would not know how to access the money, the other said that the man would survive with the note for thirty days. So when these men could not reach an agreement, they decided to look for an honest and intelligent man to give the banknote and bet on what the man would do with the note. Guess what son? Well, I was the only person they found with these traits, and thus I was given an envelope with the banknote and a letter which indicated that I visit those men after thirty days.
This was when my life took a different route son, I tell you with this banknote, I got whatever I wanted. I ate the most expensive food, slept in the most expensive rooms, and also wore very expensive clothes. I was the most famous person in London and during the tenth day of my fame, I was supposed to pay a visit to an American minister and have a nice dinner which was prepared for fourteen people (Twain, p. 19). This was also another lovely encounter because it is when I met and fell in love with Portia Langham who is now my lovely dear wife and your sweet mum. It was a nice moment indeed from being a poor man to a famous rich millionaire and now marrying a lady from a royal family.
My son, by being honest and intelligent, my life took a better route. Since you are my treasure, may you grow to be an intelligent and honest son. God bless you son.
Lots of love.
Dad.
Works cited
Twain, Mark. The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories. New York: Digireads.com Publishing, 2007.