The Imagery of Paradise
Mark Twain pronounces, “ In the country neighbourhood thereabouts, along the dusty roads, one found at intervals the prettiest little cottage homes, snug and cozy, and so cobwebbed with vines snowed thick with roses that the doors and windows were wholly hidden from sight -- sign that these were deserted homes, forsaken years ago by defeated and disappointed families who could neither sell them nor give them away.” The imagery of the neighborhoods accentuates the all-present relinquishment of California. The imagery appreciably delineates the geographical scenery of “A Californian’s Tale.”
The Imagery of the “Living-dead Men”
Mark Twain elucidates, “Round about California in that day were scattered a host of these living dead men-pride-smitten poor fellows, grizzled and old at forty, whose secret thoughts were made all of regrets and longings -- regrets for their wasted lives, and longings to be out of the struggle and done with it all.” The men in California are disheartened; hence, they appear that they are lifeless although they are still breathing. The outstanding poverty coupled with penitence fast-tracks their aging process.
