Throughout history mankind has battled temptation, greed, and guilt. These three issues are forever lasting in the world in a wide array of cultures and time periods. In Mark Twain’s, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, Twain explains his views on the themes of temptation, greed ,and guilt. Temptation is no stranger. Each person faces temptation daily. In the case of the people of Hadleyburg, they were tempted when an unsuspecting man delivers a sack of gold. The stranger does not give many details about the rightful owner of the sack. The stranger only says, “A man once gave me twenty dollars and from that twenty dollars I became rich. I was also given a valuable piece of advise; please give this to the man that gave the advise.” When the sack was given to the Richards’s they were at first reluctant to report it. The Richards family thought of all the things in their life that could be improved. The Richards’s thought of how the house could be repaired and Mary Richards thought of how she could have clothing. The couple felt sorry for themselves and thought the gold would make everything so much better. If the couple told no one about the gold no one would ever know they fell into temptation. After the news of this wonderful find got out everyone in the town of Hadleyburg through temptation, thought they were entitled to the gold. Each individual family in the town thought that the gold should belong to them because of how nice or the good deeds they have done in the past. Because the families have been exceptional citizens that the gold could also make their lives easier much like the Richards. The mystery of the sack of gold also guide the towns people into temptation. Along with temptation, greed can also get the best of a person. In this short story, a letter is given to each person in the town of Hadleyburg. This letter manipulates each person into thinking the sack of gold is rightfully theirs. Each individual knows that they are not the owner of the gold. Sadly, greed gets the best of each citizen. The citizens come up with a letter in response to claim the gold. Each person is so confident that the lie they have created is so clever they act as if they already own the gold. People in the town handle the greed differently than others. For example, when the Richards family come to the Cox family and share the news of the gold wanting to return it the Cox family tries to convince them to split it. After handing in the letters and before the town meeting many members of the community act very dishonest. Mr. Cox and Mr. Bilson prepare themselves each an acceptance speech of the gold. The greed has completely consumed each person. The greed that develops causes people to think that the gold actually belongs to them. Ultimately the guilt is the cause of all the up roar. Two families in the beginning are key in experiencing guilt. The Richards family is presented the gold in the
