What was your childhood fantasy? In an excerpt from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain, characterization, setting and mood are used to convey the overall theme of the passage. Twain describes the importance of the steamboat to his community on the Mississippi and the effect it had on the narrator.

Twain characterizes the town, a nameless young man who has found work on a steamboat, and the narrator himself. Direct description is used when he describes the town. The town is illustrated as a lifeless collection of streets, with the exception of the dock and the church. The young steamboatman is portrayed by his actions. The narrator's thoughts and ideas are recorded in this passage. The narrator confesses to disliking the apprentice, probably because of jealousy. He also tells of his desire to return to the town with a good job on a steamboat.

The setting is...