Doctor Robinson
Doctor Robinson is a young physician in St. Petersburg whose murder in the graveyard becomes the pivotal crime around which the novel's moral and legal drama revolves. Though he appears only briefly, his death exposes the town's capacity for injustice, the cowardice of its citizens, and the burden of conscience that Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn must carry. He is the victim whose fate transforms a boyish adventure into a confrontation with adult violence and legal corruption.
Identity and Background
Doctor Robinson is a young medical professional, referred to by Injun Joe as "Sawbones." He is the son of a man who, five years before the novel's events, drove Injun Joe away from his kitchen when Joe came asking for food and later had Joe jailed as a vagrant. The doctor is thus linked to a history of class and racial antagonism that predates the murder. He is also the employer of Muff Potter and Injun Joe for the grave-robbing expedition, having paid them in advance for their services.
The Graveyard Murder
On the night of the murder, Doctor Robinson, Muff Potter, and Injun Joe meet in the old-fashioned Western graveyard on a hill about a mile and a half from the village. The doctor carries a lantern and directs the two men as they dig up the grave of Hoss Williams. When the coffin is hoisted out and the body placed on a handbarrow, Potter demands an additional five dollars. Injun Joe supports this demand, revealing a long-held grudge: he reminds the doctor that five years earlier, Robinson's father had him jailed for vagrancy, and Joe swore he would get even "if it took a hundred years." The doctor strikes Injun Joe to the ground, then grapples with Potter. As the two struggle, Injun Joe seizes Potter's knife, creeps around the combatants, and, when the doctor fells Potter with a headboard, drives the knife into the doctor's breast. Robinson reels, falls partly onto Potter, and dies after a few gasps. Injun Joe then robs the body and places the knife in Potter's hand to frame him.
Consequences and Aftermath
The murder immediately becomes the talk of the town. A gory knife identified as belonging to Muff Potter is found near the body, and Potter is seen washing himself in a branch early that morning, leading to his arrest. The inquest, at which Injun Joe testifies under oath, solidifies suspicion against Potter. Tom and Huck, who witnessed the murder from their hiding place behind the elms, are terrified into silence by a blood oath, believing that Injun Joe has sold himself to the devil and that exposing him would mean their own deaths. The doctor's body is raised and placed in a wagon; a whisper spreads through the crowd that the wound bled a little, a detail the boys hope will turn suspicion toward Injun Joe, but the villagers dismiss it. The murder trial that follows becomes the novel's central legal event, culminating in Tom's dramatic courtroom testimony, which forces Injun Joe to flee through a window. Doctor Robinson's death thus functions as the catalyst for Tom's moral growth, the test of his courage, and the exposure of the town's flawed justice.
