How does the physical description of Huck's father in chapter five also serve to describe his character?

Huck's father is an old man in his fifties with gray, ratty hair.  He wears clothing with holes and patches.  Pap has holes in his boots and a cross with nails on the left heel to ward off demons.  The holes in his clothing corresponds to the holes in his memory form when he was drunk.  The nail cross tells the reader that Pap is a man who believes the devil is coming to get him.  In chapter six, Pap believes the angel of death is there to retrieve him.