In the following essay, Kemper explores how Twain parodies themes and techniques of Edgar Allan Poe in "The Invalid's Story."

Twain was a superb and deadly parodist of various literary figures and genres that he found pretentious or absurd. Cooper takes a severe drubbing more than once. Romantic poetry and fiction come in for some licks, too, most notably in Huck Finn. Detective fiction was another favorite target. Edgar Allan Poe should be added to the list of victims, too. Jack Scherting suggests that Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" may be a source for "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," and that Pudd'nhead Wilson resembles "William Wilson" in some ways. But this note concerns an elaborate spoof of Poe, not an emulation of him.

A comparison of Twain's "the Invalid's Story" with some of Poe's fictional themes and techniques, and particularly with his story, "A Descent Into the...