How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
That first day's verdict made him a fool, and [Pudd'nhead] was not able to get it set aside, or even modified. The nickname soon ceased to carry any harsh or unfriendly feeling with it, but it held its place, and was to continue to hold its place for twenty long years. (1.30)
Hmm, if the name Pudd'nhead eventually loses its harsh and unfriendly feeling, is there any harm in continuing to use it as a nickname?
Quote #5
[. . .] the Judge thought that these quips and fancies of Wilson's [almanac] were neatly turned and cute; so he carried a handful of them around one day, and read them to some of the chief citizens. But irony was not for those people; their mental vision was not focused for it. (5.6)
Burn. The chief citizens of Dawson's Landing may be Pudd'nhead's harshest critics, but our narrator never misses an opportunity to subtly remind us that they're not exactly qualified to judge the mental capacities of others.
Quote #6
[The townspeople] read those playful trifles in the solidest earnest, and decided without hesitancy that if there had ever been any doubt that Dave Wilson was a pudd'nhead—which there hadn't—this revelation removed that doubt for good and all. (5.6)
Sure, playfulness can be associated with foolishness. But taking everything in "solidest earnest" or with dead seriousness, the novel suggests, can be a foolish move.