Huck Finn Post 1

            In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the character Huck is presented showing very distinctive character traits that are emphasized throughout his actions and words. Superstition is a very important theme in the book, and it comes up over and over. Oftentimes, it is brought up alongside religion, and Huck Finn expressed his opinion several times regarding both religion and superstition. When Huck is in his room one night, he happens to kill a spider that had crawled onto his shoulder. “I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off me. I got up and turned around in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time; and then I tied up a little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away” (Twain 13). This shows the level of which Huck takes superstition. He believes very strongly in the bad luck that he will receive from killing a spider, even though he takes action that he considers helpful in warding off “witches”. At the same time, while he accepts superstition as true, Huck never shows any sign of truly believing in religion, except for situations that directly affect him.

            Huck has only ever displayed minor interest in religion from time to time in the book, and usually, he ends up losing interest, or deciding not to believe. In the first chapter, when Huck Finn says to Miss Watson that he wishes he was in “the bad place”, she tells him that that is a horrible thing to say. “All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, and I warn’t particular. She said it was wicked to say what I said; said she wouldn’t say it for the whole world; she was going to live so as to go to the good place. Well, I couldn’t see the advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind not to try for it” (Twain 12-13). This quote shows how little thought Huck invests in religion, and how he doesn’t truly listen to Miss Watson when she tells him that hell is not a good place to go. These opinions about religion are vastly dissimilar to the devotion Huck has in his superstitions. This contrast shows that Huck is a character of opinion, and who will believe what he wants, when he wants. This idea is very closely related to transcendentalism, since Huck doesn’t let the influence others sway his confidence in his beliefs.