Lesson 5
LUCK
- Mark Twain
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
This story describes the thin line between foolishness and sheer genius, stupidity and inspirational acts. The story is about one Arthur Scoresby who is a man capable of tremendous acts of idiocy (stupid behaviour) but they all seem to be translated into moments of fortunate glories. The narration is done through the perspective of a priest who has seen and watched Arthur’s story unfold and unravel at arm’s length.
The priest was in the armed forces as a teacher and one of his students was Arthur. As a novice (learner), Arthur was always up to no good. He lacked any significant trove of knowledge and was capable for moments of absolute mindlessness. As his teacher, the priest helped him get over the line in many a test and exams. With sheer luck and inexplicable miracles, Arthur not just passed but was honoured as the one of the most shining performers.
Some years down the line, Arthur rose to the rank of Captain in the army. It was the age of the war in Europe, as the World was looking for blood. Arthur was pushed into the limelight when his superior officer died. The poor man was still as clueless as always and could do nothing right (according to the priest). However, his mistakes were converted into singular moments of victory by the miracle of luck.
On one such occasion, Arthur miscalculated enormously. Going diametrically opposite to where he was supposed to, he stumbled into an enemy formation waiting to ambush the unsuspecting allied forces. However, instead of being routed by the enemy, Arthur brought an unexpected victory to the allied ranks. The surprised enemy soldiers panicked and scampered to save their face. The nation heralded Arthur as a genius for his act of unparalleled courage and strength. His became a global treasure and hero when any other man, with his mistakes and goof ups, would have been castigated and ridiculed. His story defied any rationale and disobeyed any logic. However, it verified one of Napoleon’s famous quotes, “A lucky general trumps a great general in every war”.
GENERAL ANSWER
Narrate the story in your words and discuss in detail the major theme of the story.
Introduction:
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) was an American writer, humourist, entrepreneur and publisher who wrote under the pen name, Mark Twain. He is the greatest humourist that America has produced to this date and was referred to as the father of American Literature. His greatest works include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). ''Luck'' is a short story written by Mark Twain in 1886 and published in Harper's Magazine in 1891.
The short story "Luck" revolves around a decorated English military hero and a foolish man who are successful in life through nothing but sheer good luck. The narrator attends a banquet organised in honour of a few military heroes. He sits next to a clergyman he has met before and the clergyman informs him that one of the honourees, Lord Arthur Scoresby, is just a product of luck. The clergyman then goes on to narrate the story of how the lieutenant became the famous man as he seems to be, one of the luckiest men on the planet. There is speculation about the content of the story being based on a real person. Mark Twain admitted to hearing the story from a friend named Joe Twichell but never confirmed the identity of the soldier in the story.
Theme of the story:
More than anything, the title of this story also emphasizes its theme. Lord Arthur Scoresby gets by on luck throughout his entire life, to the point it gets him far in his military career. We can define luck as a success or failure by random chance instead of effort. The reader gets to know a character with a lifetime altered by positive luck. While some themes in literature tend to be more underlying or tougher to identify. This story by Mark Twain gives its theme right in its title. Luck is exposed as ironic, not favourable to those that deserve it, and random in its nature.
Briefing the story:
Our unnamed narrator attends a banquet in the honour of a military genius known for his bravery and intelligence during the Crimean War. Lord Arthur Scoresby is actually highly incompetent in his work but has managed to be esteemed in the military. The reader gets his
story second hand as a clergyman dictates the tale while he's sitting next to the narrator at the banquet.
Scoresby never did well while still a student and earned promotions through blunders. While Scoresby was in military school, the clergyman, who was his teacher at the time, found the young man didn't know any history other than a bit about Caesar. The man helped him study and by some strangely lucky accident - an accident not likely to happen twice in a century - he was asked no question outside of the narrow limits of his drill.
After graduating, Scoresby went through a military career and moved up in the ranks all due to luck. The action of the story reaches its pinnacle when Lord Arthur finds himself fighting in a battle during the Crimean War. Scoresby got an order to fall back and support our right. Instead, he mixed up his right with his left, then went over a hill into the defensive and right into an entire and unsuspected Russian army in reserve. They turned tail, and away they went. With the wrong move, Scoresby was able to pull off the most tremendous rout you ever saw, and the defeat of the allies was turned into a sweeping and splendid victory.
Conclusion:
This story also points to the theme of jealousy and envy. Even though the priest is known as a man of truth, the reader is compelled to think that he is slightly jealous of Arthur’s rise to fame and success. Both men had known each other for several decades but they have had completely different destinations. While Arthur is revered as a hero and icon, the priest is considered just a simple man among millions of simple and honest men. One cannot but help concede that much of the frustration that the priest feels is based on his underestimation of Arthur’s abilities and potential.
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words.
1. Who is being celebrated and why?
Lieutenant General Lord Arthur Scoresby is being celebrated because he has become
victorious in the war.
2. Who are the three main characters in the story?
The narrator, the clergyman and Lord Arthur Scoresby are three main characters in the
story.
3. What unexpected action results from the clergyman drilling Scoresby before exams?
When the clergyman took Scoresby aside, he found that he knew a little of Caesar's history. As he didn't know anything else, the clergyman drilled him like a galley slave on a certain line of stock questions concerning Caesar and Scoresby went through with flying colours on examination day.
4. What did the clergyman tutor Scoresby on?
The clergyman taught him to cram about Caesar and then he drilled him and crammed him
and drilled him just on the line of questions which the examiners would be most likely to
ask.
5. Why do you think the narrator's conscience bothers him?
The narrator’s conscience bothers him because he listens to the story of unexpected success of Scoresby through luck from the clergyman who generally does not speak bad of anyone.
Additional Questions:
1. Whom did the clergyman tell the success story of Scoresby?
The clergyman told the success story of Scoresby to the narrator of the story whom he met at the banquet hall in London.
2. Why was a verdict of the clergyman on Scoresby a great surprise to the narrator?
A verdict of the clergyman on Scoresby was a great surprise to the narrator because he always heard from him about Socrates, Nepoleon or Solomon. He never heard from him such negative remarks. The narrator was astonished hearing the remarks about Scoresby as ‘He is absolute fool.’
3. What is the real name of Mark Twain?
The real name of Marks Twain is Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
4. From whom did Mark Twain hear the story of the lucky man?
Mark Twain admitted to hearing the story from a friend named Joe Twichell.
5. Which method did Scoresby use to pass the exam?
Arthur Scoresby used the drilling method to pass the exam.
