Huck Finn

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Literary Analysis
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, superstition plays out as the religion for Jim and Huck throughout the novel. With Huck not wanting to be sophisticated, and Jim being a slave, Christianity never made complete sense to them. It was easier for them to blame all the bad things that happened to them on bad luck, than to accept their fate. Huck and Jim use the superstitions to explain the things going on around them, because they were not educated enough to know otherwise. Huck believes in these crazy superstitions that he knows, and Jim teaches him, because it is Huck’s way of explaining why bad things continually hurt him. In the novel, before bad things happened, someone would not follow through with a ritual regarding the superstition, in their beliefs, bringing on the bad luck. Huck and Jim used superstitions to cope with all of the terrible things that happened throughout the course of the novel.
From the article, Care for Kids, the effects of abuse to children are listed. “Survival skills can also become self-defeating behavior patterns, such as truancy, lying, stealing, abusing alcohol or drugs or compulsive overeating” (Care for Kids, 2014, para 30). Huck skipped school when he got tired of learning, lied continuously throughout the book, and stole things, such as clothing and food, even though he considered it borrowing. Also, “Still others ‘leave’ their bodies” (Care for Kids, 2014, para 27). And “Some may retreat into fantasy or obsessive behavior” (Care for Kids, 2014, para 27). Most likely, Huck’s superstitions were a way that he could escape into his “fantasy” world, and be away from all the corruption in the world. By being able to blame an outsid...

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...on, superstition plays a large role in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Superstition is the way Huck and Jim explain everything that goes on around them in their world. Huck and Jim were not strong advocates of Christianity because Christianity could not explain all the bad things that went on around them. Huck’s prayers were never answered and bad things continued to happen to him, so Huck turned to superstition to escape from the evils in the world. Huck and Jim’s abuse made them turn to a “fantasy” world where they could blame the bad in the world on anything but themselves. It was easier for them to blame the bad on something than to have to accept that bad things always happen, and there is no way to prevent them from happening. Huck and Jim use superstitions to cope and explain all the bad things that happen to them throughout the course of the novel.

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