The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

by

Mark Twain

The Tanner Character Analysis

A loud and vocal man who attends the town hall meeting and criticizes the Nineteeners for their dishonesty. The Tanner secretly wishes that he were one of Hadleyburg’s Nineteeners, so he is delighted at the opportunity to embarrass these otherwise well-respected men. While Reverend Burgess tries to determine who truly deserves the stranger’s sack of gold, the Tanner eggs on the audience by leading disparaging chants and proposing different ways to humiliate the disgraced Nineteeners.
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The Tanner Character Timeline in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

The timeline below shows where the character The Tanner appears in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Section 3
Revenge and Redemption Theme Icon
As the crowd descends into mayhem, the local tanner—who holds a grudge against the elite Nineteeners—points out that Billson’s and Wilson’s submissions aren’t exactly... (full context)
Vanity and Virtue Theme Icon
Revenge and Redemption Theme Icon
Guilt and Shame Theme Icon
Somebody in the crowd wonders aloud who gets to keep the sack. “That’s easy,” says the Tanner . He then proposes that the money should be divided between the eighteen disgraced Nineteeners,... (full context)
Vanity and Virtue Theme Icon
Revenge and Redemption Theme Icon
Guilt and Shame Theme Icon
...nothing but a pile of “gilded disks of lead.” Wanting to humiliate Mr. Wilson, the tanner suggests that he step forward and receive the lead on behalf of his eighteen fellow... (full context)
Vanity and Virtue Theme Icon
Guilt and Shame Theme Icon
“Mr. Chairman,” the Tanner shouts, “we’ve got one clean man left, anyway, out of the late aristocracy; and he... (full context)