The next day, the duke paints Jim’s face solid blue so they can navigate the river during the day. To complete the disguise, the duke posts a sign on the raft reading “Sick Arab—but harmless when not out of his head.”
The two con men decide to scout the surrounding towns, and while the king and Huck are heading to the steamboat, they pick up a young boy in their canoe. The king questions the talkative boy thoroughly about the town and discovers a local man, Peter Wilks, has just died and left all his fortune to his English brothers.
After learning the details of the Wilks family and its friends, the king sends Huck to fetch the duke, and the con men pose as Peter Wilks’ English brothers, Harvey and William. They enter the town and begin to cry and moan when they hear of their “brothers” death. The cruel approach of the scam surprises even Huck, and he comments that “it was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race.”
Commentary
The events of Chapter 24 reveal that the duke and the king have taken complete control of the raft and its travelers. The fact that the duke unties Jim and uses a disguise to give him freedom during the day is overshadowed by the latest ploy to inherit a dead man’s fortune.
Similar to their earlier methods that played off of faith and conviction, the duke and the king plot to earn the confidence of an entire town. The task becomes ludicrous when readers realize that the duke and king must convince everyone of their English heritage and that William (the duke) is “deef and dumb.” The humor of the con men’s upcoming scam is apparent, as is the realization that this plot is more callous than their previous pranks. Twain’s burlesque on the ignorance of humankind is evident, for to succeed, the con men need a community of fools.
Huck’s somber observation that “it was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race” alerts readers that he has again been forced to evaluate his society. Whereas earlier events took place with little judgment, the Wilks scam, coupled with the death of Buck Grangerford, forces Huck to condemn the entire race. The statement underscores Huck’s constant struggle.
