"The Tragedy of Pudd'
nhead Wilson" is a novel by Mark Twain.
The title character is about a confused identity, that
of a lawyer, David Wilson. The community calls him "Pudd'
nhead" because of his eccentric ideas and practices.
The story takes place in the 1830s, in the Missouri town of Dawson's Landing. Tom, the son of the prosperous slave-owner Percy Driscoll, is born on the same day as Chambers, the son of one of Driscoll's slaves, a light-skinned woman named Roxana, and a Virginian gentleman. The children closely resemble each other. Roxana is afraid that Chambers might eventually be sold down the river, so she switches the two babies to protect her son. When Percy Driscoll dies, his brother Judge Driscoll adopts Chambers, thinking him to be Tom.
The boy grows up to be a bully and an arrogant coward. He even tries to sell Roxana, to pay his gambling debts, but she escapes from her new owners and in return she counter blackmails him with the secret of his true birth. He resorts to stealing to help pay his various debts. During a robbery attempt, he murders the Judge with a knife he had stolen from Luigi, one of a pair of aristocratic Italian twins who have recently arrived in town, at first, well-received by the community. However, the false Tom causes a series of untoward disturbances which led to rifts between them and Judge Driscoll. As a result of the troubles, Luigi was blamed for the murder of the Judge.
The unpractised attorney "Pudd'nhead" Wilson successfully proves Luigi's innocence by showing that the fingerprints on the knife belong to the false Tom. Wilson also establishes the true
identities of Tom and Chambers. The disgraced Chambers is sold down the river as a slave and Roxana is supported by her surrogate son, the true Tom Driscoll. Pudd'nhead Wilson becomes a celebrity.