Examples Of Superstition In Huckleberry Finn

In the story The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, there happens to be a lot of superstition. Many examples can be seen in the novel, for example Huck spilling salt and killing a spider and also the hair ball that would tell fortunes. Superstition plays a very big role in the story of Huckleberry Finn.
In the first chapter when Huck sees a spider crawling up his shoulder and flicks it off and lands in the flame of a candle. When he tries to get it out by that time it had already shriveled up. Immediately Huck knew that it was a bad thing and that it would bring him bad luck. So Huck being afraid of that immediately shook his clothes off and spun around three times. Then he tied a bit of his hair with a thread to keep the witches away.
In chapter four while at breakfast Huck spills a saltcellar and to ward off bad luck he reaches for the spilled salt to throw over his left shoulder but Miss Watson stops him from doing so and saying that he is a mess maker. Once Huck leaves the house he keeps a lookout for bad things that could happen to him. As he keeps on walking he sees somebody’s footprints and notices that on the left heel the boot had been leaving crosses in the ground to keep the devil away. …show more content…
This hairball which was taken from the belly of an ox is used by Jim when he does magic. So Huck tells him and tells him that he saw Pap’s tracks and asks how long Pap is going to stay and what is he going to do. Then Jim says something to his fortune telling hairball and drops it to the floor, but the hairball doesn’t talk. Therefore Jim proceeds to explaining that the hairball sometimes requires money to talk. Once Huck gives the hairball a dollar, Jim tells Huck that the hairball foretells that Pap has no idea what he is going to do and that Huck is going to have difficulties and delights in his