In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Jim and Huck use and believe in many superstitions. There are many examples from the book, that show this in the characters. Most of the superstitions are very ridiculous, but some actually make a little sense.
Huck seen a spider was crawling on his shoulder and he flipped it off and it landed in a lit candle. It shriveled up and died. Huck said it would fetch him some awful bad luck. He got up and turned around three times and crossed his breast every time. Then he tied up a little lock of his hair with a thread to keep witches away. He says that the ritual he did was for losing a found horseshoe and did not know if it would work. These superstitions and remedies seem pretty far fetched and it is hard to say where they originated, but I would have to say they originated down South.
Huck and jim on raft
Jim
Traditional raft, from 1884 edition of Adventures ...I think it originated down south because I am from up North and I have never heard any one speak of those superstitions. Huck believes in these probably because he grew up with them and they were always taught to him and he is so ignorant he does not know better.
One morning Huck turned over the salt-cellar at breakfast. He went to throw the salt- cellar over his left shoulder to cancel the bad luck, but Miss Watson stopped him. All day he wondered when something would fall on him and what it would be. This all implies that Huck thinks something is going to fall on him, because of his accident. I have heard about bad luck from spilling salt so I think this Superstition started in the North or maybe it was just popular and spread quickly. I...