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Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy

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216<br />

<strong>Interpretation</strong><br />

Tom wiU take care not to corrupt the blood that invokes those powers by<br />

any negligence with respect to natural causality. The oath is required, as<br />

Huck puts it, because "that Injun devU wouldn't make any more <strong>of</strong><br />

drownding us than a couple <strong>of</strong> cats, if we was to squeak 'bout this and they<br />

didn't hang him."<br />

The oath then has the purpose <strong>of</strong> guaranteeing their<br />

personal safety by adding a supernatural sanction to the fear already<br />

engendered by Injun Joe. It draws a kind <strong>of</strong> pledge for its enforcement<br />

from the blood, which takes the place <strong>of</strong> God in what we would consider<br />

a conventional oath. Of course, it is their lifeblood that they wish to safe<br />

guard. Shedding blood makes the oath a kind <strong>of</strong> homeopathic antitoxin,<br />

in which respect it bears a certain resemblance to the wart cures.<br />

Before the night is out the horror <strong>of</strong> the murder has been augmented by<br />

the howling dog. After that omen <strong>of</strong> death has passed, Tom is convinced<br />

that it is Muff Potter who is doomed. He seems unaware that if Muff is<br />

doomed, it is because <strong>of</strong> their own oath to conceal the truth. As we have<br />

seen, that oath now stands in the way <strong>of</strong> truth, justice, and the security <strong>of</strong><br />

the community. This oath, we see, protects Injun Joe at the inquest, where<br />

the boys for the first time feel the puU <strong>of</strong> sympathy for poor, betrayed<br />

Muff Potter. They hear the "stonyhearted liar [Injun Joe]<br />

serene<br />

reel <strong>of</strong>f his<br />

statement"<br />

falsely accusing Muff, and they expect "every moment<br />

that the clear sky would dehver God's lightnings upon his head."<br />

When<br />

divine vengeance fails, they conclude that "'this miscreant sold himself to<br />

Satan and it would be fatal to meddle with the property <strong>of</strong> such a power<br />

as that."<br />

Tom's conscience is thus quieted by<br />

the opinion that God has<br />

abdicated responsibUity too. When in the crisis he does the work <strong>of</strong> God,<br />

it will not, however, appear to be God's work. It wiU be Tom Sawyer's.<br />

It is some weeks later that Muff, who has now been charged with the<br />

murder, finaUy comes to trial. The boys are oppressed by their secret,<br />

yet fear dominates guilt. Tom seeks out Huck to find whether the latter's<br />

resolve has weakened. Huck seems firm enough. He appears to know<br />

Injun Joe better than Tom, and being an outcast himself is less likely<br />

to have protection from Joe's vengeance. It is clear that Tom fears his<br />

own resolve more than he fears Huck's when he suggests that they swear<br />

their oath <strong>of</strong> secrecy again. Having sworn, the boys relapse into com<br />

miseration for Muff. "He ain't no<br />

account,"<br />

says Huck, "but then he<br />

hain't ever done anything to hurt anybody. Just fishes a little, to get<br />

money But<br />

to get drunk on . . .<br />

it transpires that he also shared food<br />

with Huck, when there wasn't enough for two, and that he has mended<br />

kites for Tom and knitted hooks to his fishlines. They try to relieve their<br />

guilt by doing many small kindnesses for Muff at the village jail, but the<br />

pathetic gratitude they receive in return only adds mightily to their inward<br />

torture.<br />

The trial comes on, and at the end <strong>of</strong> the second day, with Injun Joe's<br />

evidence unshaken, it appears there can be but one verdict. That night<br />

Tom is out late and returns home "in a tremendous state <strong>of</strong><br />

excitement."<br />

The next day three witnesses are caUed. The first testifies to seeing Muff

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