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muhoree
05-06-2008, 08:06 PM
So, I know a lot of the superstitions like the hairball, snake-skin, spider... But! I need to write an essay that compares and contrasts the superstitions of Huck and the superstitions of Jim.
I've come up with:
1) Jim's uneducated, but most of his superstitions come true.
2) Huck's superstitions are more child-ish.
3) Huck ignores Jim's superstitions in the beginning of the book, but later starts respecting them (after the snake-skin episode)
4) Both of their superstitions bring them bad luck.
And that's it... :/

I also need to write about why superstition would be a main theme of the book, why Mark Twain would include it, and what I think Mark Twain's personal opinion about superstition is.
1) I think Mark Twain is a critic of superstition. I don't know why, I just feel like he sounds like he's almost mocking it in his writing.
2) I think it's included to show that society isn't always right, and that sometimes the old-fashioned and "traditional" views of society are wrong (slavery). Jim's uneducated, but what he says always makes sense and always comes true.


So... Any other ideas? Or any ideas on how I should tie this all into an essay with nice details and supporting things from the text?

Whoo, I fail at Huck Finn :[

nacreous
05-06-2008, 09:33 PM
not only were they funny, but they pointed to the ignorance of the under-educated in a rapidly changing society. twain showed, not told, how dumb these two were very early in the story. I'd say there were very few significant differences between the two sets of superstitions, far more similarities.
good luck.

pbmn
05-06-2008, 10:03 PM
Actually, what I believe Twain was saying was that religion and superstition are not that different, just one is more accepted by society. (Twain was more of an atheist near the end of his life) Twain seemed to not like either because they both have no definite/proovable basis, but superstition tends to come true much sooner than religion (the praying for fish hooks [religion] and the luck of the June tide helping Huck in times of need [superstition]) These are just what I believe true, but you may or may not see it completely differently.