Laughter in the World, Essay Example

Analysis of Mark Twain’sThe Stolen White Elefant

How humans define a matter or a situation is largely dependent on their personal knowledge and the imagination that may accompany such an understanding. Nevertheless, such definition does not mean that every perception presented is real and accurate. Considering that the descriptions are dependent on two aspects mentioned, there are instances when the resulting end of such descriptions is specifically laughable let alone they become an impossible picture to paint.

In Mark Twain’s writing on The Stolen White Elefant suggests a definite source of distinction that portrays how human individuals tend to describe matters based on personal understanding. The story, being dependent on the point of showing how a White Elephant, which was a gift for the British Queen coming from the Indian monarchy, was described to have been lot along the way of its journey specifically in New Jersey. Notably, such incident called for a contingency process especially noting that the one lost was an important symbolism of the relationship between the two nations involved.

What makes this story humorous is the process of search and rescue operation that has been adapted by the police officers. One was concerned about the salient definition of how the white elephant looked like, another was concerned about describing what and how he eats. It could be realized that with the many points of attention the police officers wanted to present in their search campaigns, some of the details become outrageously absurd that the description of the white elephant became more of a joke than a matter that would raise alarm in the area. Likened to the situational presentation of gossiping, this story reflects how the facts about a matter could be fabricated depending on the desire of the ones distributing the story for particular motives that might be personal in nature. With this in focus, the story then reminds the readers of how unconfirmed information could hurt the truth and thus should be avoided.