A Monument of Adam Analysis & Summary

Summary & Analysis by Song 

Monument to Adam is a short story written by Mark Twain. Mark Twain was an American writer, novelist, and teacher. This work discusses a monument project that will be dedicated to Adam, the first human on earth. The plan is for this project to be built in a small town in New York called Elmira. It is said that Mark wrote this story also to allude to the project which apparently was canceled.

There are not too many characters in this story, making it easier for us as readers to understand its contents more deeply. The characters in this story include, Reverend Thomas K. Beecher, Banker, General Joseph R. Hawley, and Mr. Darwin as the person whose work became a reference for the creation of this monument. Because, in his work entitled DESCENT OF MAN Mr. Darwin did not include Adam's name at all as the origin of the human revolution on earth. In addition, there are also many "missing links" such as monkeys and our other ancestors. Until now, there are still many people who do not accept this, however, they consider it all as part of our history.

It seems that the main character in this story is Mr. K. Beecher aka Reverend Thomas K. Beecher. He is mentioned a lot in the story, and it seems that he is also a friendly, cheerful and kind person. In addition, in this story there is also a character who made me suspicious when I first read it, because at the beginning it was told that the character wanted to take advantage for himself, but after I read it for the umpteenth time I realized that they were at the forefront because they saw that the monument project would have commercial benefits for the city. This means that this is a good step to increase the city's economy which will also benefit the community such as medium-sized businesses.

In this story, the antagonist is not told, because from what I analyzed, they are all quite open and cheerful, they seem fine. It's just that I found a DPR figure named General Joseph R. Hawley, he did not deliver the petition sent by the author. How arrogant he is, sending input to the government for the people is not implemented, are all DPRs in the world like that? The supporting characters in this short story are also quite broad, because they use the words tourist and also society to be their supporting roles.

To be honest, I'm still wondering about the main character in this story. Because the author wrote this story in a language style that seemed like he was telling us his story, and he also said that he was the one who sent the petition directly to the DPR. Oh yeah, besides that, he was also the one who proposed the project to build a monument for Adam to Mr. K. Beecher, and those two people are still my questions about who the main characters are in this story even though I said above that the main character is the Reverend Thomas K. Beecher.

Entering the storyline, this story begins with the TRIBUNE news about the author proposing the creation of a monument for Adam to Reverend Thomas K. Beecher. The reverend warmly welcomed the proposal and he also approved it. In addition, many people also agreed with the monument project for Adam, such as bankers who donated 5000 dollars for this project, but when the author sent the project petition to the DPR, specifically General Joseph R. Hawley, he did not convey it to his leader. And of course because of that, this project was not built.

In my opinion, the peak of this story is when the author tells about the anger of the community in the pulpits and magazines because in tracing the origin of the human race to its source, Mr. Darwin did not include Adam at all. Even we have monkeys and missing links and there are also many other types of ancestors. Then the conflict in this story is resolved by the General of the DPR who did not submit his petition to the upper government. 

This story is set in a small town in New York with an area of 19.63 square kilometers. And for the time, the author does not explain when the story takes place. Based on the results of my research on Google regarding the background of this story, the author is smart enough to choose this small, quiet town and also the existence of the monument construction project that was canceled because the General did not convey it to the top government officials. Because of the quiet state of the city, the author wants a tourist destination so that it can attract tourists, both local and foreign. This is what makes the bankers want to join those who will be involved in the development of this project, even some of them donate their money worth five thousand usd to improve the economy in the small town of Elmira. That way the background can interact with the flow easily.

In this story, it seems that the author uses the first person point of view style to tell his work. And I think this is what makes me wonder about the main character in it. In my opinion, the language in this story is also quite light, because it is very easy to understand for beginners or non-English speakers. The first person point of view in this story also provides direct access to readers so that they can easily understand the contents of the story, and in my opinion the use of this first person point of view can also provide a more tangible feel for readers.

The conflict in the story of the monument to Adam also seems light, not too complicated or complex. The conflict in the story is only as simple as a general who did not submit a petition for the construction of the monument to Adam to his superiors, whether it was forgetting or how let God execute it, we can only surrender and also grumble behind like the author did.

From this story we can learn that humans often pursue fame, recognition, and commercial gain such as the hopes of the city of Elmira which wants to be a tourist attraction. This shows a deeper message about arrogance and sometimes irrational motivations behind our efforts to immortalize ourselves or our legacy such as the creation of this monument to Adam.

The conclusion of this story is, human ambition can often turn simple ideas into something excessive and even unreasonable. What started as a joke about creating a monument to Adam, turned into a serious project when its commercial value was realized by bankers. In this story, Mark Twain, the author, also satirizes how humans tend to seek popularity and profit, even through unreasonable means. This story also gives us a message that not everything requires material in the form of recognition, because value or self-esteem does not always require physical symbols to stay alive.