What are the themes that are suggested in Chapter One of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

There are two main themes that appear to be suggested in
the first chapter of this classic coming-of-age novel. Firstly, the hypocrisy of
Christianity and secondly the importance of
superstition.

Notice how the hypocrisy of Christianity is
introduced. As part of her attempt to civilise Huck, the Widow Douglas tries to teach
Huck various Bible stories. However, when he discovers that characters such as Moses had
been "dead a considerable long time," Huck loses interest, because he doesn't "take
stock in dead people." When he tries to smoke, he is told off by Widow Douglas because
it was "a mean practice and wasn't clean." Huck is ironic about the contradiction that
he sees between her character and her actions:

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Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was
no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see, yet finding a power of fault
with me for doing a thing that had some good in it. And she took snuff, too; of course
that was all right, because she done it
herself.

Thus the hypocrisy
of Christianity is symbolised in the way that Widow Douglas won't let Huck smoke but
herself takes snuff.

Likewise superstition is presented
when Huck, feeling scared at night, accidentally kills a spider when he flicks it into a
candle flame:

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I didn't need anybody to tell me that that was an
awful bad signand would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the
clothes of of me. I got up and turned around in my tracks and crossed my breast every
time; and then I tied up a little lock of my hair with a threat to keep witches
away.

Huck clearly lives in a
world full of omens and signs and feels the need to protect himself from these things.
The importance of superstition in the novel as a whole is a theme that is returned to
again and again, especially through the way that Jim places so much emphasis on
superstition.