The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn · Chapter
XXXVIII explained
Tom insists that Jim must have a coat of arms and mournful inscriptions on the wall of his prison, despite Jim's protests.
What happens
Tom insists that Jim must have a coat of arms and mournful inscriptions on the wall of his prison, despite Jim's protests. Tom designs an elaborate coat of arms and composes several inscriptions, then decides they must carve them into a rock. They steal a large grindstone from the mill, and with Jim's help, they move it into the shed. Tom also insists that Jim must have pets, including spiders, rats, and even a rattlesnake to tame, though Jim is terrified of the idea. Tom suggests using garter-snakes with buttons tied to their tails as a substitute, and also insists that Jim must play music on a jews-harp to attract the animals and raise a flower called 'Pitchiola' watered with tears.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Romanticism
Tom's insistence on following romantic prison conventions—coat of arms, inscriptions, pets, and flowers—highlights the absurdity and impracticality of romantic ideals when applied to real life.
Deception and Identity
Tom's elaborate plans involve pretending Jim is a noble prisoner, creating a false identity through the coat of arms and inscriptions, which underscores the theme of deception.
Characters to notice
- Huckleberry Finn
Huck helps file pens and works on moving the grindstone, following Tom's elaborate plans.
- Tom Sawyer
Tom devises the coat of arms, inscriptions, and insists on adding pets and a flower to Jim's prison experience, showing his obsession with romantic adventure.
- Jim
Jim is forced to comply with Tom's plans, expressing fear of rattlesnakes and rats, and confusion about the necessity of these tasks.
Key passages
“Making them pens was a distressid tough job, and so was the saw; and Jim allowed the inscription was going to be the toughest of all.”
Making the pens and the saw was extremely difficult, and Jim thought the inscription would be the hardest part.
Huck narrates the difficulty of the tasks Tom assigns.
“On the scutcheon we'll have a bend or in the dexter base, a saltire murrey in the fess, with a dog, couchant, for common charge, and under his foot a chain embattled, for slavery, with a chevron vert in a chief engrailed, and three invected lines on a field azure, with the nombril points rampant on a dancette indented; crest, a runaway nigger, sable, with his bundle over his shoulder on a bar sinister; and a couple of gules for supporters, which is you and me; motto, Maggiore Fretta, Minore Otto.”
Tom describes an elaborate coat of arms with heraldic symbols, including a dog with a chain for slavery, a runaway slave as the crest, and a motto meaning 'the more haste the less speed.'
Tom's invented coat of arms reflects his romantic and absurd approach to Jim's imprisonment.
“Jim, don't act so foolish. A prisoner's got to have some kind of a dumb pet, and if a rattlesnake hain't ever been tried, why, there's more glory to be gained in your being the first to ever try it than any other way you could ever think of to save your life.”
Tom tells Jim that having a pet rattlesnake would bring him glory as the first prisoner to tame one, despite Jim's fear.
Tom pressures Jim to accept dangerous pets for the sake of adventure.