Quote 19
"Yes, and they take loaves of bread and put quicksilver in 'em and set 'em afloat, and wherever there's anybody that's drownded, they'll float right there and stop."
"Yes, I've heard about that," said Joe. "I wonder what makes the bread do that."
"Oh, it ain't the bread, so much," said Tom; "I reckon it's mostly what they say over it before they start it out." (14.16-8)
However silly their superstitions may be, the boys do understand the sometimes magical power of words.
Quote 20
"Well, what of it? They'll all lie. Leastways all but the n*****. I don't know him. But I never see a n***** that wouldn't lie. Shucks!" (6.65)
Though Tom seems to have no problems with interacting with black slaves – he even learns how to whistle from one – he still distrusts them and doesn't seem them as individual. He seems to assume that all black people are the same.
Quote 21
"Say Huck, I know another o' them voices; it's Injun Joe."
"That's so—that murderin' half-breed! I'd ruther they was devils, a dern sight." (9.38)
Listening to Huck and Tom, it's hard to know if they fear Injun Joe because he's a murderer or because he's a so-called "half-breed"; whether it's because of Joe's reputation or the reputation of people like Injun Joe.