In the article "The Mesmerizer", by Mark Twain in his autobiography, Twain tells us a story when he was a teenager. In 1850 an exciting event took place in the village of Hannibal. A hypnotist named Simmons has come to town to advertise his show. Simmons has a subject on his program called Hicks. Fifteen-year-old Twain participates in this show at which Simmons promised wonders to his audience, the citizens. Twain usurps Hicks' place by stealing the spotlight with a lie. Although Twain became the show, the temporary fame Twain receives is lost years later and continues to bite him even after many years. Just as Twain is to blame for allowing himself to be carried away by his own fame built on a lie, those who were at the show are to blame for helping Twain. It's everyone's fault. For starters, Twain is to blame. His self-image, along with jealousy, forced him to determine that he was better than Hicks. On the fourth night of the hypnotist's show, he was tempted to replace Hicks. He pretended to be sleepy and easily submitted. As soon as Twain successfully eliminated Hicks as a subject in the show by proving that he was better in all realms, he was extremely proud. "The Success of Crime!" (2) He says. Twain is proud to have been wrong and continues the show as a subject. Eventually, he became a hero on the platform. Since he established himself as a hero on stage as a teenager, he can no longer right his injustice thirty-five years later and put himself in an immobile position. The hypnotist, Simmons, is also guilty. Simmons is not actually a hypnotist or magician. He's an impostor! He is an impostor because he goes from town to town to advertise his scheme by earning money by scamming people instead of... middle of paper... you are good at getting carried away and committing immoral acts. Twain's attitude changes from the first half of the story to the last half as it is many years later. But, years later, when he thinks about how much pride he had in his successful crime, he can't shake the guilt. In fact, he can't even convince his mother that he lied. “How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!” (6). He built his heroism on a lie, and now that he tries to tell his mother the truth, she won't believe he lied. After all, they say that people believe what they want to believe, even in the face of truth. Twain, as a teenager, attended Simmons' show for attention, and thirty-five years later his guilty conscience continues to haunt him. But the fault is not only his, but also that of the citizens and Simmons.