Superstitions pervade these chapters and mark a new direction that the novel will take. First, superstition is seen in the many sounds that Tom hears and in the various signs that Tom and Huck encounter. At the graveyard, the boys discuss the powers of dead people; they believe that spirits of the dead can hear people talking and can see them in the dark. This discussion leads to the various superstitions connected with the entire Injun Joe episode.
Until this point in the novel, Twain has shown the childhood adventures of Tom and some of his friends to be all innocent fun. That is, Tom is the mischievous boy playing various types of pranks, creating great adventures using pirates and robbers, and fighting great wars. Furthermore, Tom has been seen in terms of his relationships at home, at school, at Sunday school, and at play with his friends. In this chapter, there begins a simple adventure in the graveyard concerning a dead cat. This adventure, however, is vastly different from anything that Tom or Huck have previously confronted. In the person of Injun Joe, Tom and Huck have their first encounter with pure evil. They witness first a grave robbery, then an argument, and finally a fight that ends in a murder.
Two new characters are also introduced in this chapter: Muff Potter and Injun Joe. Muff Potter is the town’s disgrace—a drunk and worthless person who is hired to help dig up the corpse of the recently buried Hoss Williams. Muff is not very bright and is easily persuaded by Injun Joe that he is the murderer. Muff’s trust in Injun Joe indicates his simple-mindedness. After the murder, Potter is depicted as fearful, weak, hopeless, confused, and literally shaking, partly from alcohol and partly from fear. The townspeople take advantage of his weakness and willingly believe Injun Joe; they condemn Muff Potter on the basis of rumor and hearsay even before any formal accusation is made against him.
In contrast, Injun Joe is a vicious, wicked, and evil man. The murder of Dr. Robinson is not the first murder that he has committed, and he later has no compunction about mutilating Widow Douglas. He is the personification of evil, and his evil is seen in his willingness to kill a man for revenge or for some trivial reason. The townspeople are willing to believe Injun Joe because they are afraid of him and fear retaliation from him. Thus Huck and Tom are right in their fear of Injun Joe. Future chapters show Tom and Huck helping Old Muff Potter and being deeply frightened by Injun Joe.
Twain’s literary artistry is seen in the techniques he uses to depict Injun Joe. He never comments directly on Injun Joe’s evil. Instead, he shows how evil Injun Joe is by the boys’ reaction to him. Here are two boys in the cemetery at midnight: Thoughts of dead people don’t scare them. Thoughts of ghosts don’t scare them. Even thoughts of the devil don’t scare them. But they are pushed to panic by the presence of Injun Joe. Their reaction to his presence is more effective than a straightforward statement of his evil would be.
In this chapter, the two boys flee from the murder scene, “speechless with horror.” They are confronted with real evil and with the realization that if they tell, their lives will be in jeopardy. This situation contrasts dramatically with their make-believe adventures in which death is an exciting—and imaginary—prospect. To protect themselves, the boys agree to remain silent, and they make a complicated ritual of this oath-taking, a ritual that involves both writing out the oath and signing it in blood—a technique that Tom has learned from the books he has read. Taking this blood vow later makes Tom reluctant to reveal the truth.
In these chapters, Tom’s world has suddenly reversed itself. The days of happy childhood pleasures and adventures are gone: Aunt Polly does not scold him as usual; instead she weeps over him, which is much more upsetting. At school, Tom is flogged for playing hooky the preceding afternoon, but he hardly notices the punishment because his mind is occupied with the horrors of the preceding night. And, when Becky returns his brass doorknob, his world of childhood innocence is temporarily brought to an end.
