Superstition In Huck Finn

One example of Huck’s serious tones that is meant to be comic is his belief in the snake skin superstition. He is warned by Jim not to touch it with his bare hands since bad luck will come upon him, but he does it anyway. As a result, Jim is bitten by the deceased snake’s mate and Huck believes all of Jim’s superstitions and concludes that all of the seemingly bad things that happen are a result of that one mistake. He states, “Anybody that don’t believe yet that it’s foolishness to handle a snake-skin, after all that that snake-skin done for us, will believe it now if they read on and see what more it done for us,” (Twain 94) in chapter 16 when he begins to have doubts about helping Jim escape slavery. Another example of Twain’s comedic principles being taken seriously by Huck is when he dresses up in girl’s clothing to remain disguised while seeking out information on his supposed murder and Jim’s disappearance. While Huck takes this disguise seriously and fears being found out as a boy, he is obviously not succeeding as Mrs. Judith Loftus immediately notices that he is not a girl. …show more content…
He is sympathetic to Jim’s escape but feels guilty for helping him escape Miss Watson. He knows that slavery is wrong, and can accept Jim’s escape but begins to be weary when Jim brings up buying his wife from a farm down the river and then paying an abolitionist to free his children by means of stealing. In chapter 16, Twain uses this to represent how society, while leaving little impact on Huck, has impressed him with the notion that slavery can be justified purely based on the darker pigment of their