Pudd'nhead Wilson Lesson Plan

After learning his true identity, Tom struggles to get his bearings in this new “moral landscape” but eventually returns to his old ways. What is Twain trying to say about race in America in this section (the opening of Chapter 10)? Is Twain hopeful or pessimistic about racial progress?

The chapter opens with Tom awakening from sleep. To use modern jargon, he is now “woke” and realizes things that had never entered his head before, such as “why is this awful difference made between white and black?” He wanders around “thinking, thinking, thinking.” Despite gaining this powerful new perspective, Tom ends up reverting to his old ways because “the main structure of his...