Operant Conditioning In Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is set in the late 1800’s during the early Americas. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain takes a very liberal approach when writing this novel. Twain writes about a boy who tries to free his negro slave friend Jim. Twain writes about Huck and Jim’s adventures down the Mississippi River and all their other side adventures. While this quest is going on the reader notices Huck’s metamorphosis from being an innocent boy to, in a way, a man. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shares vivid details that gives the readers a glimpse of life in the late 1800’s, from how people witnessed slavery, to how everyday life was for a boy such as a Huck. As the story continues a common theme manifests

Operant conditioning is when someone associates an event to something that happened, the legendary psychologist B. F. Skinner shared his insight on this type of superstition, "When small amounts of food are repeatedly given, a 'superstitious ritual' may be set up. This is due not only to the fact that a reinforcing stimulus strengthens any behavior it may happen to follow, even though a contingency has not been explicitly arranged, but also to the fact that the change in behavior resulting from one accidental contingency makes similar accidents more probable."-- Skinner, B. F. (Quotations). Going back to the snake skin, Huck sees the effects of the snake skin when he starts to receive bad luck. So if Huck sees snake skin again he will completely avoid it. Then there are the outrageous ‘step on a crack you break your mother’s back’ superstitions but there are also the weather superstitions,’when the leafs flip upside down, rain is coming,’ and,’when the smoke from a chimney flattens a storm is brewing.’ These served as weather guides and helped common folk and farmers when the weather channel did not exist (It is also cool to think that so many people believed this because it happened. Make me wonder how many superstitions are

Jim is one of the most superstitious characters in the book as he is always sharing his superstitions to Huck, “...young birds come along, flying a yard or two at a time and lighting. Jim said it was a sign it was going to rain.” (Twain 45). Jim’s constant use of superstition helps shape the environment Mark Twain has created. An interesting addition made by Twain in the novel tells how the elders (Miss. Watson and Jim) use superstition and the kids as well such as Huckleberry,”...flipped it off and it lit in the candle…I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful sign of bad luck.” (Twain 3). This infers how the superstitions are passed down through generations and how everyone knows