Answer:
The meaning is this, this boy was vexed by the horrible habit of smoking from the peer pressure of others. The author uses satire to jokingly tell of how much importance chewing tobacco was for a boy of his age. When Twain states " I was not able to learn to chew tobacco. I learned to smoke fairly well, but that did not conciliate anybody and I remained a poor thing, and characterless." he uses words such as "poor thing" and "characterless" to show humor within his writing. Though smoking and chewing tobacco isn't such a humorous subject, Twain uses a good amount of satire to represent comedy in such a serious topic.
Explanation:
Mark Twain uses satire to show humor through his most serious topics. This brings the reader into the story with interest.
