“The Five Gifts of Life” by Mark Twain is a very interesting short story in which the gifts of life are offered to a man, describing the effects that each choice has on his life and where those choices have guided man. I was intrigued by how often the fairy warned the man to choose wisely and the description of her reaction after the man chose a gift. I also found the results of each gift interesting. The man chose pleasure and ended up disappointed and empty. The man then chose love, again left with nothing after his wife's death. After choosing fame, the man had years of being praised, envied, and hated and then slandered, mocked, and left with nothing. The gift of wealth had the opposite effect after a few years, driving him into poverty. When the fairy returned, she brought with her the four gifts of pleasure, love, fame and wealth but she no longer had the fifth gift to offer, which she had always expressed as the most valuable. The gift had been given to a child who asked the fairy to choose the most suitable gift. Now the man would have to remain in his state with nothing and no one to show for himself and for the years he lived, until his death. Death was not an option or an answer to his wishes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Analysis “The Five Gifts of Life” was written by Mark Twain during the period of realism. Realism coincided with the Romantic period. Realism, however, rejected idealism and focused on solving real-life problems; focusing on real people and their daily lives facing poverty, hunger, violence and other difficult topics. Other key issues in that time period included the growth of an empire, industrialization, and urbanization. Realism is often considered a revolutionary movement in which ordinary people and simplistic visions were depicted, which were often the product of everyday life experiences and senses. Charles Darwin and his theories on evolution and organic species helped fuel the shift from faith-based thinking to scientific proof. Mark Twain focused on rich versus poor, wealth versus poverty, love versus solidarity. Every gift the man in the story received ultimately had a negative effect on him. Each gift offered instant gratification and a feeling of power, joy and excitement. And each gift left the man wanting more. During the period of Realism, authors such as Mark Twain focused their writings on how real people were affected by the social, economic, technological, and political changes that were rapidly affecting the world they knew at the time. Mark Twain was no stranger to life's difficult moments. He lost his father early, had to leave school and start working. While he was growing to love steamboat work on the Mississippi, when the Civil War broke out, he found himself traveling west to try his hand at mining. Meanwhile, he wrote about his experiences and his view of the world. Mark Twain married and fathered four children, three of whom died. He, his wife, and only living daughter traveled and met many influential people of this period. He needed to go on speaking tours because of the debts he had accumulated. He was awarded honorary degrees from Ivy League colleges and was invited to address the president of the United States and Congress. He worked with other authors and continued to grow in popularity. He knew the ups and downs of life, the losses and the gains. Despite.