It's All About POWER

In Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court, Hank Morgan is an extremely critical protagonist of Britain’s government during the legendary time of King Arthur’s rule. Morgan continuously informs the reader of his complete dislike of the Roman Catholic Church, which he feels is power hungry and had built its supreme foundation on lies. Morgan whole-heartedly feels that the church “converted a nation of men to a nation of worms. Before the day of the Church’s supremacy in the world, men were men, and held their heads up, and had a man’s pride and spirit and independence; and what of greatness and position a person got, he got mainly by achievement, not by birth” (Twain 89). However, in Morgan’s own case, he received his title of “The Boss” through trickery, deception, and complete lies. With his newfound position, Morgan wants to start a revolution so that he was no longer “in a country where the right to say how the country should be governed was restricted to six persons in each thousand of its population” (129). Yes, this seems like a completely selfless act in which Morgan would be viewed as an amazing hero for the rest of time. But, consider this: Morgan is the sole person in charge of teaching the civilians the education they require in order to overthrow the current government and start a revolution, and if the revolution in fact was successful, then Morgan would have the ultimate power to rule the country as he pleased. Is Morgan trying to stir up a revolution for the right reasons or is he just interested in gaining unlimited and uninhibited power?

This really draws another question: what does legitimate power look like in Twain’s eyes? On the one hand, Twain portrays a flawed, power-hungry, and defective government that gives the King complete authority over the entire society without caring for the needs of its civilians; on the other hand, Twain criticizes nineteenth century America through his depiction of Morgan (who is a direct representation, and our only representation, of “present-day” America). Morgan uses his knowledge of the nineteenth century to gain control and take advantage of his position in this new rural world. For example, Morgan specifically states that “it was reasonably plain, now, why these donkeys didn’t prospect these liars for details” (113). First of all, calling the people “donkeys” that he is so-called trying to help really makes me think that Morgan is educating the people for his own behalf. Second, he acknowledges that the people do not uncover the lying knights so that he is sure that no one will ever question his personal strength through “magic.” So, he says that his pipe “‘was only a bit of enchantment which would work harm to none but [his] enemies. And [he] promised, with [his] hand on [his] heart, that is all who felt no enmity toward [him] would come forward and pass before [him] they should see that only those who remained behind would be struck dead’” (132). Morgan uses their ignorance and fear in accompany with his lies in order to maintain his power and authority. Just think: if he somehow lost his magic, Morgan would lose his title, his power, and everything that came with it. By portraying Morgan’s character in this educated yet power hungry view, Twain illuminates the idea that both governmental systems are flawed.

Another idea to really contemplate is which mode of governmental rule would work and be the best for the society amidst the time of King Arthur’s rule. Are the civilians really unhappy with their present system of government if they remain ignorant of what real freedom and a democracy look like? Are they really ready for this change, meaning are they ready for this power to be in their hands without entering a Civil War? I’m not so sure a democratic government would really work in this time period. I guess we’ll have to read the rest of the book and see what happens (Twain’s take on these events at least).

Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court. London: Penguin Books, 1971.