The Ragged Man (named as Emmett in the movie) is the secondary antagonist of the 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by the late Mark Twain, and the 1995 Disney film adaptation Tom and Huck. He was the former partner of Injun Joe.
Biography
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Ragged Man is first seen with Injun Joe, while searching the hidden treasure. The townspeople and Tom and Huck knows him as a deaf and dumb, however he's not.
After Joe's death, the Ragged Man's body had been found in the river near the ferry-landing; he had been drowned while trying to escape.
Tom & Huck
The Ragged Man (going by the named Emmett in the film) first appeared when the townspeople accused the town drunk Muff Potter for the murder of Doctor Jonas Robinson, since his knife was the murder weapon. However, unknown to Muff and the villagers, it was Joe who committed the murder to get his hands on a treasure map. As part of his plan to frame Muff for the crime, Joe gets Emmett to rally the townspeople to hang Muff, but this was foiled by the town judge Thatcher and Widow Douglas, who suggested that Muff should get a trial so that they can decide whether he is guilty of the murder or not. Muff is then taken into custody afterwards, despite pleading of his innocence.
It later turns out that Emmett is in cahoots with Joe as he aided the latter in finding the lost treasure hidden in the fireplace of an old house. However, Joe tells him to wait until after the trial as he intends to ensure that Muff takes the blame for Robinson's murder. To ensure of this, Joe gets Emmett to bury the treasure at Number Two under the cross at McDougal’s Cave while he burns the map, leaving no evidence to claim Muff’s innocence.
However, this all went sour as Tom Sawyer testified in court on behalf of Muff, admitting that he witnessed Joe murdering Robinson with Muff's knife, forcing Joe to escape and be branded as a wanted outlaw. With the gig up and knowing that he will be tracked down for being an accomplice, Emmett packs up several pickets and shovels in his tavern, only to be confronted by Joe, who accused him of trying to take the treasure for himself. Emmett tries to assure that he wasn't trying to cheat Joe, but the latter refuses to listen and kills Emmett by stabbing him in the back with a knife.
Eventually, Emmett's body was found by the sheriff, who traced down Joe's current whereabouts in the cave before informing Judge Thatcher, who learns that his daughter Becky is lost in the caves along with Tom, and that Joe will kill them in revenge for exposing his crimes. However, Tom's best friend Huck arrives to the rescue, and Joe ends up falling to his death in a deep chasm.
| Mark Twain Villains | ||
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Prince and the Pauper Extracts from Adam's Diary The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County The Story of the Bad Little Boy | ||
