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= A_Defence_of_General_Funston =
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Introduction
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"A Defence of General Funston" is a satirical piece written by Mark
Twain lampooning US Army General and expansionism advocate Frederick
Funston. Funston had been a colonel during the Spanish-American and
Philippine-American Wars, and Twain had been an outspoken critic of
these wars, as immoral ventures of the American state into the
imperialist subjugation of foreign peoples and territories.
Plot
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In the piece, Twain essentially excoriates Funston as a scoundrel for
the tactics he employed in capturing the Filipino president Emilio
Aguinaldo, while at the same time facetiously arguing that Funston is
not responsible for any of his actions since it was not Funston
himself but his "inborn disposition" that determined his actions for
him. As this is the only ground upon which Twain makes his "defence",
the overall effect is to ironically and comically emphasize Twain's
view that Funston's actions were completely indefensible.
Reception
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According to a research article, Mark Twain used this book, as well as
an essay in the 'North American Review' to criticize Twain, creating a
controversy which lasted for months. The controversy was covered by
many American papers, destroying the reputation of Funston. According
to a website, the essay was a "searing satire of Funston's methods in
capturing Aguinaldo and the hero's welcome he received after returning
to the United States."
License
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All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Defence_of_General_Funston
