Mark Twain has sometimes been compared with his contemporary, Anatole France. Both writers had an ironical, skeptical view of life and a native pessimism overlaid by gaiety. Both believed that the existing social order was a swindle and its cherished beliefs mostly delusions. Both were atheists, convinced of the unbearable cruelty of the universe. But there the resemblance ends. Not only was France more learned and more civilized, but he was also more courageous. He attacked the things he did not believe in; he did not, like Twain, always take refuge behind the friendly mask of the "public figure" or place unpopular views in the mouths of his fictional characters. France was always ready to take the unpopular side in a controversy--the Dreyfus case, for example. Twain, except in one short essay--"What is Man?"--never attacked established beliefs in a way that was likely to get him into trouble. In the author's opinion, Mark Twain and Anatole France differed in that France

directly confronted the things he opposed, whereas Twain did so indirectly

was a pessimist, whereas Twain tended to be an optimist

rarely changed his mind on an issue, whereas Twain did so frequently

wrote for a literate and sophisticated audience, whereas Twain did not