How does twain use the understatement serve his purpose? be sure to use specific details from the text to support your answer

Tranquil contentment among all of us, as we didn't know for months. This passage understates happiness that other people felt that the obnoxious person was put out of commission, especially since he had been monopolizing all the girls in town.  which made it look that the partiality of providence for an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to criticism this understatement explains the disgust of his fellow acquaintances of . How his boat blowing up far from putting him out of use, made him more useful or important in the favors of society.

Mark branleist please.

The answer is explained below.

Explanation:

The question refers to this excerpt:

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.

Mark Twain was an American writer, famous by writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, among many others. Understatement means to represent something less strongly than what it really is. In the excerpt, it is expressed first in "tranquil contentment among us such as we had not known for months," where happiness of other fellows is apparently understated pointing out that he had taken all the girls attention in town. Another example is "it seemed to us that the partiality of Providence for an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to criticism" which explains the feelings (specially disgust) of people around him.

he is suggesting that this widow is a strong woman, who is giving constructive criticism and she has enough to worry about, and she takes care of him, so he does not take it to heart.

they fear for their lives