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SUMMARY
The following night, Tom and Huck steal out of the house and start digging with their case-knives. They get blisters on their hands and Tom realizes that, this way, they wouldn't go very far and that it would take them a long time to accomplish their goals if they were to go on like this so, he suggests that they start digging with the "picks" and pretend that they are case-knives.
Tom steals a spoon and a brass candlestick, for Jim to write with, while Huck gets three tin-plates. That night, they sneak into Jim's cabin. Jim is mighty glad to see them and wants to run away without any more delay. Little does he realize that Tom has something else in mind. Tom wants him to follow the "regular" method and assures him his freedom. Tom explains his plans to Jim, including how to lay his hands on the rope-ladder pie and write the "journal", with blood. Jim doesn't see any sense in these activities. Though he is not too pleased with all this, he acquiesces because he has faith in the wisdom of "white folks". Satisfied with the "intellectual fun" that they've had, they go back to their room.
When they leave Jim's cabin, they forget to fasten the secret door and an army of dogs comes in. Nat, the nigger who gets Jim his food, imagines them to be devils and starts yelling and groaning. He makes a big hue and cry about it and Tom comes in to see what the matter is. Once the dogs are driven out of the cabin, Tom convinces the nigger that he has been hallucinating. Tom capitalizes on his knowledge that the nigger is superstitious and says that he would ward off the witches by making a witch-pie: He actually plans to hide the sheet ladder in this pie and send it to Jim.
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| The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapter 36 |
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Tom does not mind deviating from his "regular" and sworn path, when it is a matter of convenience for him. When he realizes that digging with "case-knives" will take a lot of time, and also because it will give them painful blisters, he therefore, learns that Tom is smart enough to weigh a situation according to how it suits him; he is not all that steadfast and enduring in his heroic plans when they offer him any kind of discomfort.
This chapter again hints at the superstitious beliefs of the blacks. Just like Jim, Nat, the nigger is also extremely superstitious. He has faith in witches and spirits. Nowhere do we find the "white" folks resorting to these superstitious beliefs. It is always the "niggers" who believe in them.