What contrast can be made between the two passages?

Read the following excerpt from life on the mississippi by mark twain. no girl could withstand his charms. he "cut out" every boy in the village. when his boat blew up at last, it diffused a tranquil contentment among us such as we had not known for months. but when he came home the next week, alive, renowned, and appeared in church all battered up and bandaged, a shining hero, stared at and wondered over by everybody, it seemed to us that the partiality of providence for an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to criticism. how does twain's use of understatement serve his purpose? be sure to use specific details from the text to support your answer.

The tone of this speech could best be described as expressing a feeling of read the excerpt from president ronald reagan's speech on the night before the 1980 presidential election, i believe we can embark on a new age of reform in this country and an era of national renewal an era that will reorder the relationship between citizen and government, that will make government again responsive to people, that will revitalize the values of family, work, and neighborhood and that will testore our private and independent social fear hope anger pride

Isaw my future flash before me and it did not take me anytime to slow down. i need to replace the words "it did".