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. Mark Twain Hartford, 1876 Dealing with the role of magic in HF, Daniel Hoffman claims "a subtle emotional complex binds together superstition: slaves: boyhood freedom in Mark Twain's mind."1We know how Twain felt about boyhood freedom - his nostalgia for it lead him to …showed first 75 words of 665 total…

…showed last 75 words of 665 total…their own superstition and by Tom's mischief, but are we convinced that they are worse off than the people at the camp meeting who donate a total of $87.75 to that scoundrel, the King, for his mission in the Indian Ocean? Bibliography 1. Daniel G. Hoffman, "Jim's Magic: Black or White?". American Literature XXXII March 1960, pp. 47-54. back to text 2. Daniel G. Hoffman, Form and Fable in American Fiction. Oxford University Press. New York, 1965.back to text