Description
The Stolen White Elephant by Mark Twain is an extraordinary farce, a detective story that mocks all detective stories and a tragicomedy that attempts at shedding light on how ridiculous some pieces in the genre really are.The story told in the form of telegraphs revolves around a white elephant that was offered as a gift from the King of Siam to the Queen of England, but disappeared in New Jersey as it was on its way to the destination. The local police start investigating, but they are unsuccessful. Mark Twains humor is at its best in this satirical short story. His irony is directed against the police forces, making one mistake after the other, blunders that make story even funnier.The telegraphs that give the novel its shape are from the various detectives sent to investigate the clues considered worthy of tracking by the master detective a vain and superficial man looking not for a way to find the elephant, but for a way to achieve fame and glory. The hilarious story unfortunately ends in a sad note the white elephant is found dead. The tragic end is reached after lots of detours and after chaos becomes uncontrollable, the death of the poor creature coming as the ultimate solution to the mystery of the theft.The Stolen White Elephant is a classic Mark Twain story satirical, witty and funny, providing a unique take on the events and on the character of the participants. The writing is humorous the Mark Twain way it has social criticism, it provides a large inventory of human vices, of vanities and of fallible characters. The reader will sympathize with some of them, will have strong negative feelings towards others, but one thing is sure: The Stolen White Elephant is hilariously entertaining from beginning to end.