The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Chapter 37 | Summary

Summary

Huck and Tom begin taking things from the Phelps home to use for the escape, creating much confusion in the household and frustrating Aunt Sally. When a spoon turns up in Uncle Silas's pocket he has no idea how it got there, and Aunt Sally yells at him. After Aunt Sally instructs Uncle Silas to stop up the rat holes, the boys do it without telling him. This leaves him confused. The boys take sheets on and off the line and remove and replace spoons, which further confuses Aunt Sally. They tear up one of the sheets, make it into a rope, and send it to Jim via the witch pie.

Analysis

At this point the book has become a screwball comedy. Tom and Huck's high jinx are driving Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas crazy. It's hard to believe that Aunt Sally does not question the boys about the strange happenings, since these oddities coincide with their arrival. The boys seem to enjoy the confusion they are creating in the household.

Huck is clearly second fiddle to Tom as all the initiatives are from Tom. Unlike his responses in the previous chapters, Huck does not complain or question. This can be seen as his slipping back into his old role of being a follower to Tom. There is no sense of urgency in freeing Jim, and his situation is secondary to the games the boys are playing.