A True Story

Content Warning: This section references racism and enslavement.

“A True Story” uses a frame story to center Aunt Rachel and give her agency in telling her story. The name of the story itself, “A True Story, Word for Word as I Heard It” sets the expectation that Twain is merely reporting what he has been told, so the inclusion of a frame is significant, as it necessarily alters the way in which readers will receive the story. The context in which Twain published the story likely explains why he felt the frame was necessary. Though the Civil War was over, racial prejudice and inequality certainly were not, and including the figure of Misto C allows the story to engage directly with those realities.

Misto C, a stand-in for the author himself, sees Aunt Rachel at the beginning of the story as a respectful and cheerful person who “can’t have had any trouble” in her life (591). This echoes stereotypes of enslaved people as content with their lot—stereotypes the story assumes readers will share. Misto C’s misperception therefore becomes the reader’s own as Aunt Rachel takes over the narration and it emerges that she has experienced a great deal of “trouble.