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The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
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The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

short story by Twain
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History

The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg , short story by Mark Twain satirizing the vanity of the virtuous. It was first published in Harper’s Magazine in 1899 and collected in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories and Sketches in 1900. The story reflects Twain’s disillusionment and pessimism after a period of financial reversals and sadness over the death of his daughter.

A grim tale of revenge, the story relates the downfall of the citizens of a town that boasts of its honesty with the motto “Lead us not into temptation.” A mysterious stranger, however, sets in motion a plot that exposes the townspeople’s underlying greed and hypocrisy.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.