Examples Of Superstition In Huckleberry Finn

The Superstitious, and the Supernatural

What is Superstition? Superstition is defined as “ a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief. “

From beginning to end, superstition plays a big role in the characters of Huckleberry Finn, and is an ubiquitous theme throughout the novel. In this interpretation, Huck rebels against society, religion is a symbol for society, and huck uses his superstition as a mean to escape from it. On all accounts, Huck and Jim are as superstitious as superstition gets. Their belief in witches, ghosts and other nonsensical things makes their adventures all the more interesting and ridiculous.

First off, Huck rebels against society. Some ways in which he does this is with his emphatic incredulity.
“ After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find

We busted it up, and chased the children up the hollow. “ (Twain, 22)

In this instance, Huck and the rest of the gang show their disrespect for such common folk practices as going to church or a sunday School picnic.

Furthermore, throughout Huckleberry Finn, there are many instances of Huck and Jim exercising their strong superstitious beliefs. In one occasion, a spider is crawling up Huck’s arm and
“ I flipped it off and it lit in the candle; and before I could budge it was all shriveled up. I didn't need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck.. “ (Twain, 13)

In this odd episode, Huck flicks a spider off ofis arm into a lit candle. He knows it’s a bad sign to have a spider crawl up your arm and he does not need anybody to tell him that. Huck is not the only character in the novel with superstitious behaviors. Jim tells tales of ghosts and other frivolous nonsense, most notably about