Anatomical Dissection In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

In American medical history the “practice of hands-on anatomical dissection” began to become wildly popular during the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century; however, it “was frowned upon in the new republic as immoral and irreligious and was impeded by state laws prohibiting it” (Halperin, pp. 490). From its limited practice and use in the medical field in America because of the regulations and moral implications it became a topic of controversy and a topic that was brought into light in literature that was written in the nineteenth century, as seen in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The practices behind using the deceased to conduct the anatomical dissections and how doctors and medical students …show more content…
Laws that were placed into effect during this time varied by state on whose bodies could and could not be used in research; this can be seen when “Mississippi and North Carolina exempted the bodies of Confederate soldiers and their wives” was added after new state laws took effect in the nineteenth century that would allow “medical schools to use the remains of the downtrodden of society—the unclaimed bodies of paupers, residents of alms houses, and those buried in potter’s fields” (Halperin, pp. 491). However, the laws may have been in effect throughout the nation, but that does not cover how they were executed, if at all. In fact, it was not uncommon for anatomists, physicians, and grave robbers to not be punished for their crimes; between 1820 and 1840 there were only two convictions of grave robbing in Vermont alone (Halperin, pp. …show more content…
In chapters nine through eleven you have an encounter with the concept of a doctor hiring both Injun Joe and Muff Potter to dig up the grave of an unknown person for him to use the body for medical research. With this scene being a part of the novel, you see the outside influences of the medical community be brought into Twain’s text. Injun Joe is a half Native American half-white character in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, being portrayed as the antagonist exhibiting characteristics of being: dishonest, thieving, and a wicked person. Shortly after the grave robbing that is happening, Tom and Huck witness Injun Joe stab Dr. Robinson and fleeing before hearing him convince Muff Potter that he had killed the doctor; this only begins to add to the case of Injun Joe’s negative