Several instances in “Pudd’nhead Wilson”, blacks justify their action because the whites have done it, which shows that they believe whites are always right. When the belief that whites are undoubtedly correct prevails, blacks succumb to the superior whites and this grants whites the false belief that they are superior. This is shown when Driscoll is proud of his “magnanimity” of excusing his slaves who have committed theft by not selling them down the river. He compares himself to “a god [who] strecthed forth his mighty hand and closed the gates of hell against [the servants]”. This comparison is ironic, however. Slavery itself is a hell and if he truly displayed god-like qualities he would not have enslaved anyone in the beginning because
