Dear Jeff,

Perhaps the reference is to the onset of the novel where Huck goes through
an elaborate scheme to keep Pap and the Widow from ever finding him.  He
kills a pig and drags it to the river leaving a bloody trail to the river
bank.  Then he drags a torn sack of meal away from the scene leaving an easy
trail for investigators to follow.  The whole point of this exercise was to
make everyone think he'd been killed and his body thrown into the
Mississippi.

John Evans

> From: "Jeffrey W. Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 13:56:44 -0500
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: "they'll think I've been killed"
>
> My sophomore survey class is in the midst of _Huck Finn_ right now, and
> today a student asked a question which I was not sure how to answer.
> Although this is a regular occurence, I thought perhaps I could tap into
> the collective Twainiac community for clarification on this one.
>
> Towards the end of chapter XVIII, after Huck escapes the
> Shepardson-Grangerford feud, he tells Jim that "they'll think I've been
> killed, and floated down the river--there's something up there that'll help
> them to think so..."  My student asked what that "something" was.  I've
> always thought Huck referred to the bodies of Buck and his cousin Joe, and
> was hesitant to get into details because he didn't want to relive the
> violence and/or explain to Jim.
>
> I was wondering if I've missed something, or does that explanation make
> sense?  Any thoughts out there about this?
>
>
> -----------------
> Jeffrey W. Miller
> Department of English
> University of Tennessee at Martin
> Martin, TN 38238
> (731) 587-7327
> [log in to unmask]