Superstitutions in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Jim and Huck use and believe
in many superstitions. There are many examples from the book, that show
this in the characters. Most of the superstitions are very ridiculous, but
some actually make a little sense.
Huck seen a spider was crawling on his shoulder and he flipped it
off and it landed in a lit candle. It shriveled up and died. Huck said it
would fetch him some awful bad luck. He got up and turned around three
times and crossed his breast every time. Then he tied up a little lock of
his hair with a thread to keep witches away. He says that the ritual he
did was for losing a found horseshoe and did not know if it would work.
These superstitions and remedies seem pretty far fetched and it is hard to
say where they originated, but I would have to say they originated down
South. I think it originated down south because I am from up North and I
have never heard any one speak of those superstitions. Huck believes in
these probably because he grew up with them and they were always taught to
him and he is so ignorant he does not know better.
One morning Huck turned over the salt-cellar at breakfast. He went
to throw the salt- cellar over his left shoulder to cancel the bad luck,
but Miss Watson stopped him. All day he wondered when something would fall
on him and what it would be. This all implies that Huck thinks something
is going to fall on him, because of his accident. I have heard about bad
luck from spilling salt so I think this Superstition started in the North
or maybe it was just popular and spread quickly. I do not believe there is
hardly any fact at all to this. Huck believes in this probably because of
the way he grew up.
Jim said when young chickens flew a yard or two at a time and
lighting it was a sign that it was going to rain. He thought if birds did
it, it would be the same. Also Jim said if you caught one of them you
would die. He thought this because his dad caught one and got sick and his
grandmother said he was going to die. His father did die. These
superstitions do have a little credibility. I think they originated
because some birds do fly in patterns when it is going to rain or storm.
The part about his father dying might have a little credibility, but it is
kind of stretching it. Maybe his dad caught the bird and ate it without
cooking it all the way, or maybe the bird was infected and killed Jim's dad.
Jim probably believed in the bird story about his dad's death because he
experienced it first hand.
Jim also said you should not count the things you are going to cook
for dinner, because that would bring bad luck. The same if you shook the
table the table-cloth after sundown. He said if a man who owned a bee-hive
died, the bees must be told before sun-up of the next morning or the bees
will die. These superstitions are all nonsense and having nothing to do
with anything. I think Jim believes this because he does not know any
better. He experienced some Superstitions first hand and that is probably
why he believes in them. The previous superstitions probably originated
out of stories told wrong, exaggerated, or people kept jazzing up stories
to make them interesting ,until they turned into nothing, but nonsense.
Jim says if you have hairy arms and a hairy chest then you are
going to be rich. This originated probably from a few rich men who were
hairy. They probably told people they were rich because of their hair and
since they had the money to endorse their ideas people believed them.
Money can buy many things, it can also make normal people understand and
believe things they usually would not of. Jim probably believed this
because maybe his former master or masters were rich and were hairy. He
was also hairy and had money at one time. At the end of the book
he became free and Tom gave him $40, which supported Jim's theory.
Huck grabbed a rattle-snake skin which was the worst luck Jim and
Huck ever encountered. This superstition has good size of fact to it to.
It probably originated because people like Huck picked up their skins and
kept them in their bags or played tricks on the friends, like Jim. The
mates probably came and defended their mate, by attacking the victim who
had the rattle-sake skin. The superstition probably got stretched a little
out of proportion, but I think a good deal of it is real. Huck and Jim
probably believe in the bad luck caused from touching the snakes skin
because they experienced it too. When Huck played that trick on Jim, I am
sure Huck became a believer of the bad luck.
Jim also said he would rather look at a new moon over his left
shoulder a thousand times instead of touching a snake skin again. This
superstition might have originated from people looking over their shoulder
and then they probably stumbled and fell or ran into something. Huck and
Jim probably believe in this because it makes a good deal of sense to.Partner sites: Study Spanish in Spain, Pug, and Free Argumentative and Persuasive Essays