What is humor? With humor, we think of something that is obvious, of something that strikes us in a book or in a newspaper and that makes us laugh. Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, included many opportunities for humor throughout his writings, although Mark Twain makes his humor very dry and sometimes hard to tell it is even there. Mark Twain, unlike most authors, includes humor in his writing without it being blatantly obvious. In a short excerpt from an essay by Naomi Hori on humor in one of Twain's writings, she writes: “Let me clarify the characteristics of Twain's laughter. His way of generating laughter is apparently by writing a book; there is no interaction between Twain and his readers. There is some time before readers laugh at Twain's humor, and it cannot be swayed by the audience. » (148). These points are certainly very true with Twain's writing, and more specifically with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where much of his subtle humor is not always immediately picked up by the reader, it takes time to understand why it's funny and what it is. makes fun of. Most of his writings were not written in front of an audience but from his own bed, where he wrote what he thought, and these writings became some of the best-known works of literature in American history. Mark Twain was a very forward-thinking person for his time. It went against most of the ideals of the people of the time. Twain used his humor to cover up people's anger over certain issues that affected them. But probably the most striking thing about Twain – and a measure of his genius – was his ability to write humorously about issues that made him seethe with anger. Twain believed that laughter was "the only truly effective weapon" that people have ... middle of paper ... American history, and will be forever. The way Twain includes humor without it being blatant will surely secure his place as one of the great American humorists. Works Cited Hori, Naomi. "An analysis of Mark Twain's humor in his work The Innocents Abroad." Internet. March 25, 2012. “Mark Twain Quotes – Religion.” Quotes from Mark Twain. Internet. March 25, 2012. .Twain, Mark. "Autobiography of Mark Twain:." Google Books. Internet. March 25, 2012. .Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam, 1981. Print. Twain, Mark. "Calaveras County's Famous Jumping Frog." 301 Moved permanently. Ed. Angel price. Internet. March 24. 2012. .