What is humor? With humor we think about something that is obvious, something that strikes us in a book or newspaper that makes us laugh. Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, included numerous opportunities for humor in his writings, although Mark Twain makes his humor very dry and sometimes hard to tell that it's even there. Mark Twain, unlike most authors, includes humor in his writings without it being blatantly obvious. In a small excerpt from an essay by Naomi Hori on humor in one of Twain's writings, she writes: “I would like to clarify the characteristics of Twain's laughter. Apparently his way of evoking laughter is to write a book; there is no interaction between Twain and his readers. There is a time lag before readers laugh at Twain's humor, and he 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 most of his subtle humor is not always immediately grasped by the reader, it takes time to register why it is funny and what it is. he's kidding himself. Most of his writings were written not in front of an audience but from his bed, where he wrote what he thought, and became some of the best-known literary works 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 hide people's anger over certain issues that concerned them. But probably the most astonishing 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 possess... middle of paper... American history, and forever will be. The way Twain includes humor without it being blatantly obvious will surely secure his place as the great American humorist. Works Cited Hori, Naomi. "An Analysis of Mark Twain's Humor in The Innocents Abroad." Network. March 25, 2012. "Mark Twain Quotes - Religion." Mark Twain Quotes. Network. March 25, 2012. .Twain, Marco. "Autobiography of Mark Twain:." Google Books. Network. March 25, 2012. .Twain, Marco. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Bantam, 1981. Print.Twain, Mark. "The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County." 301 moved permanently. Ed. Angelo Prezzo. Network. March 24. 2012. .