The Alter Ego

The battle within has been the topic of many films and novels throughout the years. Though most notably remembered in Stevenson's Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, this theme has inspired entire genres of fiction like the serial killer genre.

Twain's take on alter egos is much more sanitized, and a lot more fun. He uses twins rather than multiple personalities to explore this phenomenon. And what better way to explore alter egos warring with each other than twins connected at the waist?

Angelo and Luigi could not be more polar opposities. Angelo is religious, Luigi a freethinker. Angelo is well-tempered and a teetotaler, Luigi a brash alchoholic. Though they have found a solution to their differences in opinion, by alternating control of their legs, the battle between the two is a constant one. They often argue about the places they go and the people they see. In essence, they cannot live a full life. Any ground made by the one is destroyed by the other the following week. Because of this, they cannot even enjoy the half of a life they live. This leads to their demise, and eventually their death. The death of one does not free the other; Angelo must die with Luigi.

The twins in the film The Prestige, offer a contrasting look to Twain's twins(just had to say Twain's twins, didn't I?). In this story, the twins are one in purpose. They choose to live the same life. They act dependently of each other, and willingly take on each other's characteristics. They are a persona, not dual personalities. When the one loses fingers in an accident, the other, cuts off his fingers so they may continue their life as one person. In effect, they each have one half of the same life. By choosing not to war against each other, they are preserved.

Perhaps, for Twain, the twins in his story represent the struggle within his own life. No doubt, like Angelo, Samuel Clemens felt the alter ego he had created in Mark Twain was the one that got all the attention. It was the personality he had created that the public had fallen in love with. Ken Burns' documentary alluded to the fact that Twain felt that noone wanted Clemens. They only wanted Twain. No one wanted to know the real man behind the voice; they were far more interested in the caricature of himself that he had created.

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