How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story -- that is to say, thirty or forty years ago. (P.2)
There must be some common element to the superstitions discussed in the book that appeals to both groups; at one point Tom and Huck discuss a particular belief that has been passed on by a slave.
Quote #2
"Say -- what is dead cats good for, Huck?"
"Good for? Cure warts with."
"No! Is that so? I know something that's better."
"I bet you don't. What is it?"
"Why, spunk-water."
"Spunk-water! I wouldn't give a dern for spunk-water." (6.57-61)
Superstitions function as a kind of street smarts, a way for kids, in this case Tom and Huck, to demonstrate their knowledge.
Quote #3
Old beams began to crack mysteriously. The stairs creaked faintly. Evidently spirits were abroad. A measured, muffled snore issued from Aunt Polly's chamber. And now the tiresome chirping of a cricket that no human ingenuity could locate, began. Next the ghastly ticking of a deathwatch in the wall at the bed's head made Tom shudder -- it meant that somebody's days were numbered. (4.1)
Tom's beliefs, in this case in something called a "deathwatch," seem to come from some combination of overactive imagination and a desire to make sense of the unknown.
Quote #4
The truth was, that a superstition of his had failed, here, which he and all his comrades had always looked upon as infallible. If you buried a marble with certain necessary incantations, and left it alone a fortnight, and then opened the place with the incantation he had just used, you would find that all the marbles you had ever lost had gathered themselves together there, meantime, no matter how widely they had been separated. But now, this thing had actually and unquestionably failed. Tom's whole structure of faith was shaken to its foundations. (8.7)
Here, we see that Tom really does treat his superstitions seriously; they are, as far as he knows, laws that guide daily life.
Quote #5
"Say, Hucky -- do you reckon Hoss Williams hears us talking?"
"O' course he does. Least his sperrit does."
Tom, after a pause:
"I wish I'd said Mister Williams. But I never meant any harm. Everybody calls him Hoss."
"A body can't be too partic'lar how they talk 'bout these-yer dead people, Tom." (9.10-14)
Even when their fears are normal or understandable – the whole ghost in the graveyard thing is pretty standard – Tom and Huck take things to a new level; they are very serious about the supernatural.
Quote #6
Then a faint moan came sighing through the branches of the forest and the boys felt a fleeting breath upon their cheeks, and shuddered with the fancy that the Spirit of the Night had gone by. There was a pause. Now a weird flash turned night into day and showed every little grass-blade, separate and distinct, that grew about their feet. And it showed three white, startled faces, too. (16.57)
Here, again, Tom, Huck, and Joe, explain away a surprising natural phenomenon by turning it into a matter of spirits and spooks.
Quote #7
"I don't want any marks. They always bury it [treasure] under a ha'nted house or on an island, or under a dead tree that's got one limb sticking out. Well, we've tried Jackson's Island a little, and we can try it again some time; and there's the old ha'nted house up the Still-House branch, and there's lots of deadlimb trees -- dead loads of 'em." (25.17)
In St. Petersburg, no superstition or spooky locale is left unaccounted for; the strange thing is, Tom's logic does work. He watches Injun Joe take treasure from the "haunted" house.
Quote #8
"We can't ever tell the right time, and besides this kind of thing's too awful, here this time of night with witches and ghosts a-fluttering around so." (25.91)
Considering that Tom and Huck are so young, and that their knowledge of the world is so limited, their belief in strange, otherworldly things is understandable – also, in this case, ghosts and witches provide Huck with a perfect reason to stop digging a hole late at night, an unenviable task if there ever was one.
Quote #9
"My! I never once thought of it, Huck!"
"Well, I didn't neither, but all at once it popped onto me that it was Friday."
"Blame it, a body can't be too careful, Huck. We might 'a' got into an awful scrape, tackling such a thing on a Friday."
"Might! Better say we would! There's some lucky days, maybe, but Friday ain't." (26.4-7)
Here again, superstition gives Huck and Tom the opportunity to delay what is, no doubt, a scary endeavor – they go off and pretend to be Robin Hood instead.
Quote #10
"It [Injun Joe's ghost] would hang round the money. I know the ways of ghosts, and so do you."
Tom began to fear that Huck was right. Misgivings gathered in his mind. But presently an idea occurred to him –
"Lookyhere, Huck, what fools we're making of ourselves! Injun Joe's ghost ain't a going to come around where there's a cross!"
The point was well taken. It had its effect. (33.58-61)
In order to bolster Huck's confidence, Tom trumps one with another. Though they do believe in the craziest things, their system has some order to it.