Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Themes of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Themes of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Themes of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Themes of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Jim is one of the most underrated and most understood characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. There are many arguments that people can use about the way Twain portrays Jim. Even for the best arguments that readers can have, there is always an argument to rebut with, unless the readers completely understand Twain’s purpose for writing Jim in such a way. Twain shows Jim in a complex environment that helps strengthen him as a character. In Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain depicts Jim to be a kind, loving, and trusting family man who, against all odds, challenges the social norm that black and white people are different. Even from the beginning of the story, Jim and Huck trust each other despite Jim’s knowing …show more content…
When the king and the duke come along, they use Jim’s trust in the wrong way. It does come to a limit, and Jim says, “Well, anyways, I doan’ hanker for no mo’ un um, Huck. Dese was all I kin stan’” (Twain 158). This statement is the first time Jim really takes a stand for himself, yet he still does it in a nice manner. After this Jim starts to realize who his real friends are and put even more trust into them. The trust Jim carries for his friends is one of this most important characteristics that is shown throughout the book since it shows how similar he is to Huck in that way. Though Jim usually has trust in his friends and their actions, he also makes good choices …show more content…
This quote shows how much he cares about his family and what he would do for them. He even acts as a surrogate father to a white child and during this time period that is unheard of till Jim steps up. Where some people would say Jim wants to become free just like anyone in his situation, some contradict and say he holds bigger things to worry about and more than just his freedom is at stake. The doubters who say that Jim wants freedom only do not understand the longing of family and sadness Jim has. Jim feels that the only way to get retribution and the love of his family again was to be free and the only way that would have happens was if Jim was freed. Jim’s family and close friends show how much his life revolves around them. Even when his family and friends are around, he stays loyal like when Huck was at the Sheperdsons Jim does not leave, but instead stays in the swamp biding his time instead of running to freedom. This shows just how much Jim wants freedom, as well as the freedom of others. In a time where blacks are disliked heavily, for an influential writer such as Twain to write a black man in such a way would have been hard to overcome and to accept. Jim is a pivotal character because Twain shows the progression of how he is accepted in society. Twain gives Jim a sense of trust, family, and kindness to help the reader think about the possibilities of the world without people like
Because of his rolling stone like upbringings, conformity is not a part of his forte. In some ways he takes after his father, the infamous town drunk who hasn’t attempted to contact Huck in years. But despite all of the complications and seeming misery, he is a decent boy who only gets himself into a bit of mischief. Therefore, with the difficult life he’s already had at such a young age, it’s a miracle he isn’t either depressed or a delinquent. Jim also hasn’t had it easy. Being a black man living in the south during pre-Civil War times means daily persecution. He lived a life that he could never fulfill because of the metaphorical chains he never got to take off. So he was left no other choice but to run until he found freedom. Although this would be deemed as “reckless” to society, he did it out of love for his family and fear of his life. Every decision Jim made was done with the hope that he would one day be reunited with them. His intentions were pure, and the positive light that’s cast upon him gives the readers a heartfelt sympathy for what he’s going through. Both Jim and Huck had to overcome great struggle until they found solace in the
In chapter 16, Huck goes through a moral conflict of whether he should turn Jim in or not. “I was paddling off, all in a sweat to tell on him; but when he says this, it seemed to kind of take the tuck all out of me (89).'; Right off from the beginning, Huck wanted to turn Jim in because it was against society’s rules to help a slave escape and Huck knew it. But when Jim said that “Huck; you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had; en you’s de only fren’ ole Jim’s got now (89),'; made helped Huck to grasp the concept that there is a friendship in the making. Even though Huck didn’t turn Jim in, he is till troubled by his conscience when the slave catchers were leaving because he knows it is wrong to help a slave. Still Huck cannot bring himself forward to tell on Jim, thus showing that his innate sense of right exceeds that of society.
In Twain's age the fact that a black man is a big part of the story never happened. If Jim wasn't in the book, Huck most likely would have been in a great depression. “What does Huck need to live without despair and thoughts of suicide? My answer was, Jim.” (Morrison 4). In the book Jim is a main character as much as Huck. “Well, den, dis is de way it look to me, Huck. Ef it wuz HIM dat 'uz bein' sot free, en one er de boys wuz to git shot, would he say, 'Go on en save me, nemmine 'bout a doctor f'r to save dis one?' Is dat like Mars Tom Sawyer? Would he say dat? You BET he wouldn't! WELL, den, is JIM gywne to say it? No, sah—I doan' budge a step out'n dis place 'dout a DOCTOR, not if it's forty year!" (Twain). This quote shows Jim thinks that Huck would sacrifice himself to save him, which shows that Jim is important to
The novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has many intriguing characters. One of those characters is their slave, Jim. He has many diverse qualities that portrayed through his actions, speech and appearance. These qualities include loyalty, compassion and superstition. These qualities show us how Jim is a good person.
First Jim manipulates Huck. “ ‘Well, dey,s reasons. But you wouldn’ tell on me ef I’uz to tell you would you, Huck?’ ‘Blamed if I would, Jim.’ ‘Well, I b’lieve you, Huck. I-I run-off.’ ‘Jim!’ “(pg.43). This shows That Jim manipulates Huck because Jim makes Huck promise that he won’t tell before telling him. This makes Huck obligated to keep Jim’s secret when he wouldn’t normally.
... is influenced my Mark Twain's interest in minstrelsy, and furthermore the stereotypical blackface characters represented in the increasingly popular minstrel shows that influenced a great deal in American society and culture, as well as created a very negative caricature of blacks during the time. Jim neglects the stereotype of the happy-go-lucky "Sambo" by running away from his master to obtain freedom, yet he also does not represent the "dandified coon," as he is fairly intelligent, selfless, and kind-hearted in all of his actions. Thus, as the growing popularity of minstrel shows continued and spread its influence among American culture, Mark Twain's depiction of Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn offers a rejection of the blackface portrayals of minstrelsy.
Jim is one perfect example of the message that Twain is trying to convey. As Jim’s character builds, his english is broken, and at times, is difficult to read. Twain has done this on purpose, to emphasize Jim’s lack of an education and the treatment he gets as a slave. In the beginning chapters of the book, Jim hears a sound and says “say-who is you? Whar is you? Dog my cats ef i didn’ hear sumf’n…” When reading Jim’s dialogue, the reader must have some reflection on the way his speaking is a result of slavery and the purposeful withholding of education.
Jim and Huck’s friendship evolves throughout the novel and Huck changes the way he treats Jim. Huck started off this novel by playing practical jokes on Jim with Tom Sawyer. Huck was taught that there is nothing wrong with mistreating blacks. After journeying down the Mississippi river with Jim Huck knows he can’t always listen to society.
During times of slavery, every African American in the south was either a slave or a free African American. “She treated me with respect” (Twain 5). Jim said when he was asked about how the Widow Douglass treats him. This shows that the life of Jim was not that bad, he had everything a slave at that time could want, and his owner did not disrespect him. Also most slaves were abused and almost beaten to death. Twain tries to represent the hardships of slaves on a daily basis when he doesn’t portray Jim’s life to be much difficult “Even though Jim was a slave, he was treated like a family member” (Ralph 6). Jim was a house slave and did not have to do hard work in the fields for long hours. In page 3 in Ralph’s Article, he says “Jim had to no motive to leave, he wanted freedom but it would be harder for him because he wouldn’t have all the amenities he had when he was a slave” (Ralph 4).
At the beginning of Twain’s novel that profiles the adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the protagonist, a boy growing up in the south, reflects that “I was ever so glad to see Jim”(HF 82). Huck who is meeting Jim, Miss Watson’s slave, for the first time on Jackson’s Island as a boy on the run from his broken family is excited because he will not be on his journey alone. This unplanned meeting between the soon to be unlikely friends with Twain’s portrayal of Huck, a boy who is not susceptible to his society's prejudiced views of African Americans, is curious and questions Jim wanting to know more about him. Twain effectively personifies the imminent friendship which leads to perilous adventures in the events to come after the two’s first meeting.
Jim had multiple opportunities in which he could have easily betrayed, dumped, or otherwise abandoned Huck, but still chooses to stay with him despite the associated risks. He chooses to trust Huck when he claims that Jim had been drinking and made up the whole separation in the fog scene, despite his gut telling him not to. However, upon finding out that his trust was betrayed, Jim is righteously indignant for a short while, but quickly forgives Huck despite the magnitude of the lie. Finally, Jim trusts his own good judgement, in that helping Tom towards the end of the novel would be better for him in the end than letting tom die and becoming a free man. Thus, it becomes apparent that Jim’s plentiful and well-placed trust place him even further into the heroic
Although Huck considered Jim a slave as the story went on he became his friend. This friendship was based on Jim being more of a father figure to Huck. Jim sees Huck as the only "white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim". While on this adventure Jim helped house Huck and keep him safe by keeping lookout and Huck slept. Jim actually cared when he thought Huck had passed by saying “It's too good for true, honey, it's too good for true," he says: "Lemme look at you chile, lemme feel o' you".
Jim provides the moral rule against which different situations are measured. Jim's integrity stands in sharp contrast with the corruption of the outside world. His remorse over hitting his deaf and dumb child occurs right before the Duke poses as a deaf mute to get the Wilks' money. The reality of his daughter's plight makes the duplicity and greediness of the two men even more despicable. It is "through Jim's sensitivity [that] the entire Wilks episode is thrown into much more precise focus" (Cox 73). Also, Twain portrays Jim's judgment of situations as the correct moral view. It is Jim that exposes the meanness of Huck's joke after the night of the fog. It is once again Jim that sees that the Duke and the King "reglar rapscallions" (116). Jim also provides the moral motivation for Huck to make the right decisions. Adams argues that "Jim's function . . . has been to test . . . Huck's growing moral strength and mature independence" (Adams 92). But a closer look at the novel reveals that Jim himself provides Huck's moral strength. When Huck mockingly asks him to interpret the meaning of the trash on the raft, "rather than taking each item of debris and divining its meaning as Huck requests, Jim takes each act of kindness and concern he has shown Huck Finn over the course of their journey and defines for the boy, perhaps for the first time in Huck's life, the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and filial or family responsibility." (Chadwick-Joshua 56). By apologizing to the slave, Huck was not only accepting Jim as his friend, but he was also accepting his moral values. It is Huck's friendship with Jim that "makes possible his moral growth" (Cox 73). Jim's comment, "you's de only fren' ole Jim's got now" (67), when Huck is paddling off to turn him in, stops Huck and forces him to decide in favor of Jim. The memory of Jim's friendship keeps Huck on the right track. When Huck remembers
Huck and Jim's friendship undergoes many twists and turns along with the trip the two take down the Mississippi River. With each adventure their friendship grew stronger and deeper from their encounter with the Duke and the King to the riverboat scene the friendship is built one building block at a time. Throughout the novel Jim makes references to the kindness that Huck shows him, but Huck seems oblivious to their new found friendship. "Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman"...(pg. 89) When Jim made this statement Huck realized just how much this friendship meant to Jim.
Because this story takes place before the Civil War, Twain uses this opportunity to make the reader wonder "whether anything has really changed since the emancipation of slaves" (Stocks, Claire). Huck's internal conflict is symbolizing that people, after the emancipation of slaves, have a hard time of changing their views on an idea that has been enforced among society for centuries. Having mixed emotions about his situation, Huck asks himself, "Was Jim a runaway nigger?" (Twain 129). Huck, symbolizing all of America after the Emancipation Proclamation, is trying to figure out whether or not treating colored people differently is good. When Twain was writing this, he was still upset that black people were treated so badly, so he made a character in his story to portrait America's internal conflict of figuring out what is really right. Huck started out thinking all blacks were nothing more then property, but then realizes that Jim was a human just like every white person. Twain wants the American people to at least try to give the newly freed slaves a chance to be apart of