Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Hair Ball Essay

Submitted By Ibarra3
Words: 452
Pages: 2

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In chapter 4, Huck consults a hair ball to find out what his father’s plans are.
Miss Watson's nigger, Jim, had a hair-ball as big as your fist, which had been took out of the fourth stomach of an ox, and he used to do magic with it. He said there was a spirit inside of it, and it knowed everything. (ch 4)
Obviously, something does not have magic powers just because it was in the stomach of an ox. For Huck to ask the hair ball for advice, and for Jim to give it to him, is just plain silly. Is that any sillier than thinking a person can be owned because of the color of his skin? Jim may use the hair ball, but he is not the only one who thinks it has powers. In this case, Huck thinks it has powers, and Jim is more or less fleecing him.
There are other examples of superstitions used to hide a person’s true intentions. When Jim and Huck find a dead man in the floating house, Jim tells Huck that looking is bad luck. He really does not want Huck to know it was his father, and does not want him to see his father in that condition. Huck is looking out for Jim.
For example, when Huck kills the snake and leaves it as a joke