45 pages • 1 hour read
The Innocents Abroad
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 32-37Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 32 Summary
For the first time in quite a while, all the passengers of the Quaker City gather together on board the ship. The ship sails along the strait of Messina, viewing the mythical site of Scylla and Charybdis and admiring the moonlit appearance of the Italian and Sicilian coasts. The ship then skirts the various islands of Greece.
The passengers receive the disappointing news that they must pass on to Constantinople rather than risk being quarantined at Athens. However, Twain and some other men steal into Athens at night, bribe some guards, and visit the Acropolis and Parthenon. On their way back, they steal grapes, and pirates patrolling the area chase them.
Chapter 33 Summary
Twain sees the desolate and ruin-strewn appearance of Greece as symbolic of her present-day decay. He contrasts the glories of ancient Greece with the political and economic troubles of modern Greece.
The ship sails in the channel of the Dardanelles and then drops anchor in the Golden Horn. From there, Twain and three or four others go to Constantinople, an extremely crowded “circus” full of extravagant and colorful costumes, shops of all kinds, dervishes, beggars, and cripples. He visits the mosque of Hagia Sophia, finding it dirty and gaudy.
Chapter 34 Summary
Twain recounts his mostly negative experience of Constantinople. He criticizes Muslim morals and discusses the sad lives of the city’s dogs. Finally, Twain has a miserable experience in a Turkish bath that destroys forever his childhood illusions of the Middle Eastern lifestyle.
Chapter 35 Summary
The passengers sail into the Bosporus and the Black Sea, arriving at Sevastopol. Although this city is full of ruin, the Americans are received there with warmth and hospitality. The passengers chat with Russian and English people on board the ship and visit battlefields from a recent war. Twain’s friend Blucher amuses him by saving and labeling bogus “mementos” from various historical sites to send home to his credulous aunt.
Chapter 36 Summary
At Odessa, Twain feels more “at home” than he has in any other place he has visited on the trip. The city reminds the travelers of an American town with its neatly laid out tree-lined streets and businesslike atmosphere. The travelers have come to Odessa to gather coal for their journey, and Twain is happy that he doesn’t have to worry about sightseeing. Instead, he enjoys idling about the city and eating ice cream. The city of Odessa recommends the passengers for an audience with Czar Alexander, and they prepare for the journey.
Chapter 37 Summary
The travelers anchor at Yalta and prepare to meet the Czar and his family. The Governor-General, who with the United States Consul in Odessa arranged the meeting, leads them to the palace. The Czar, with his wife and young daughter, greet the American travelers in the garden outside their palace, then give them a tour of the palace. After this, the Americans travel a mile for a visit and luncheon with the Czar’s brother, Grand Duke Michael, at which several Russian nobles and military officials are present.
Chapters 32-37 Analysis
In this section, Twain visits Greece and the Black Sea region around Russia, culminating in his meeting with the Czar and his family. In breaking the quarantine at the port of Athens with several friends and going in to see the Acropolis and Parthenon in the middle of the night, Twain shows a mischievous, bad-boy quality akin to Huck Finn. Although an avid democrat, Twain frequently shows admiration for royal rulers such as the Czar of Russia. What Twain most admires in the Czar and his family are their unpretentious graciousness. The audience is a high point of the journey, and Twain affects an air of comic pride at having met such an important personality.
There are some notable cross-cultural comments when Twain finds Odessa similar to an American town and Yalta reminiscent of the Sierra Mountains. In general, he and his companions find Russia a bit less alien than many of the places they have visited in Europe; the people there are also very friendly to Americans.
The theme of history versus progress comes out when Twain leaves Naples by rail. The sight of the modern train leads Twain to contrast the cheerfulness and technological advancement of modern times with the spectral sights from the past he has just viewed at Pompeii.
Constantinople is mostly an unpleasant experience for Twain and elicits some of his most stinging comments about the Islamic world. As a Westerner used to particular standards of living and hygiene, Twain is disgusted by the crowding, bad smells, noise, and physical deformities of the people in the city. The Hagia Sophia mosque evokes none of the reverent reflections Twain lavishes on the Cathedral of Milan, for example. Twain’s visit to the Turkish bath is one of the notable comic episodes of the book and sums up his general disgust with Constantinople. The best Twain can say about the city is that it presents a colorful spectacle.
Unlock all 45 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Mark Twain
