Twain feels intellectually and culturally insecure in Venice. Describe why a tour guide furthers these insecurities.

Twain is ashamed that he doesn't know what it means when something is referred to as "Renaissance." His insecurities are exposed by a black tour guide from South Carolina who is the son of a former slave. The man is better spoken, more intelligent, and better dressed than Twain could ever hope to be. Twain is humiliated by the fact that a "cultivated Negro" holds more intelligence than he.