In the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, the characters all value some things specific to his character. Jim and Tom are peculiar characters because they have distinct ways of looking at things. In that Jim values family and friendship, Tom values following the rules, and Huck values the natural world. Jim and his people are regarded by the society at the time to not have feelings. This is evidently not true as Jim specifically shows that he has feelings. Jim has the most feelings for his family, “head down betwixt his knees, moaning and moaning to himself… he was thinking about his family” (Twain 155). This quote shows that Jim felt feelings for his family that he so dearly missed. What Jim had done to his daughter was unfortunate and he knew that felt bad for this. Jim highly values his family and tries to fuel his quest for freedom only to be able to return with his family. “The first thing he would do when got to a free state he would go to saving up money and never spend a single cent, and when he got enough he would buy his wife, which was owned on a farm close to where Miss Watson lived; and then they would both work to buy the two children, and if their master wouldn't sell them, they'd get an Ab'litionist to go and steal them." (Twain 88). From this quote, I can concur that Jim was solely out on the search for freedom in order to live with his family in a free State and that he happened to grow a strong friendship with Huck. Jim has grown to value Huck and the friendship they hold. Even though Jim doesn’t know of what Huck often plans to do with him, I know that this friendship is mutual throughout their time together. Jim quickly grows a friendship with Huck, “ Goodness gracious, is dat you, Hu... ... middle of paper ... ...he width of the river and its magnitude. Huckleberry holds nature in its own realm and regards it when he needs to. He is a nature-man and does things that other people wouldn’t understand. “We was always naked, day and night… and besides I didn’t go much on clothes nohow.” (Twain 118). Huck decides to live his life like a true homeless man and enjoys it because he is living amongst the natural world. Huck values the wilderness so much that he would go out of his way make the experience “right.” The characters have much more they value then what I described, but this is the very essence of what constitutes each one of them as a character. Tom, Huck, and Jim have many things that oppose one another, it seems quite ironic that one another link up so well. This goes to show that opposites do attract. Works Cited "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
Jim gives Huck a gateway into his private life when he tells Huck this story. Huck listens quietly and respectfully to this story, which shows him warming up to Jim. The story shows Jim’s homesickness, and how he greatly misses his family. It also shows a much less forgiving and more emotional side of Jim’s character. Jim forgave Huck for all of the pranks he pulled on Jim, though Jim would not forgive himself for a mistake years ago. If both characters had not run away together, they would not have the type of relationship they share now. It would be heavily frowned upon if Huck and Jim had this type of relationship while still at their homes because of the racism of people in the south. Huck is still open to new ideas, which is why he becomes friends with Jim.
...all along Jim was free but being the adventurous boy he is he wanted Jim to turn out and be a hero like the one’s he reads about. Tom knows Jim could have been freed multiple times if he didn’t put him up to all of the childish games. Jim had stayed by Tom’s when he almost died and would do anything for him but Tom couldn’t give Jim the same respect back. His foolishness behavior caused Jim more pain and almost didn’t get him freed. Jim was a father figure to both boys and he stood by Huck’s side since the beginning of the novel.
When Huck and Jim first meet each other on the island they are just acquaintances who had little history together but the decision they make to help each other foreshadows their relationship later on in the story. When Jim first finds Huck he states, "Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck? En you ain' dead—you ain' drownded—you's back agin? It's too good for true, honey, it's too good for true. Lemme look at you chile, lemme feel o' you. No, you ain' dead! you's back agin, 'live en soun', jis de same ole Huck—de same ole Huck, thanks to goodness!" (Twain ). By this time, Jim has heard the news of Hucks “death”, so when they find each other on the island it comes as a surprise to Jim. “People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum--but that don't make no difference. I ain't a-going to tell, and I ain't a-going back there, anyways” (Twain ), Huck thought. After Jim told Huck that he was a runaway, Huck promised not to tell anyone, which shows his values and foreshadows their relationship later on in the story. After leaving ...
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
Basing his morals off of society and those around him, Huck obtains very little knowledge as to what is just. Tom Sawyer, Huck’s best friend, is one major character that influences Huck’s bad behavior. Easily influenced by Tom’s ideas, Huck decides to join a gang with him that’s filled with robbers and murderers. If any member was to betray the gang, they were to kill their family and,
He realizes that Jim has always been nice to him so he decides to keep a loyal friendship. He begins to notice that Jim has high anticipation for becoming a free man and he hears Jim talk about some of the things he wants to do. Huck takes the road less traveled and does not sell Jim out. Throughout the book Huck and Jim help each other out and begin to have a Batman and Robin type relationship. “I made Jim lay down in the canoe and cover up with the quilt, because if he set up people could tell he was a negro a good ways off”(Twain 51). This quote shows friendship because if Huck did not care about Jim he would have let him stay sitting up and possibly be seen by the townspeople. Because Huck cared about him he told him to lay down and cover up so there was no risk of him being detected. There are many times in the book where Jim helped out Huck and Huck helped out Jim. As they got more and more comfortable around each other there trust and loyalty gets stronger and
The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Samuel L. Clemens, whose pen name was Mark Twain, presents the evils of southern societies during the pre-Civil War period in America. The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Samuel L. Clemens, whose pen name was Mark Twain, presents the evils of southern societies during the pre-Civil War period in America. Clemens, a well-respected author, "began writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1876 and, after several stops and starts, completed it in 1883" (19). This novel revolves around the theme of slavery versus freedom, and was published at a time when most southern landowners still "owned" slaves.
From the battle of survival, through the little sense of loyalty in scams, and finally a continued friendship between Huck and Tom, things start to fall into place. After dealing with doubts and worries through their journey of freedom, a bond is created that will never be broken. Taking on adventures leads to open doors with great opportunities for everyone. Unfortunately, facing society can be extremely difficult because of its indifference. As mentioned previously, Huck decides that going to hell is worth Jim having a free life. Without the key elements of friendship provided in the the book, the story would not be the same. If Huck had decided to not help Jim, the bond and experience would have been broken. Therefore, opportunities wouldn’t have been as large and open for them. Twain does a fantastic job at illustrating the importance of friendships. True friendships are the ones which loyalty, protection, and dedication are
... he now realizes that stealing property is bad. Since Huck and Tom, although in a drawn-out manner, free Jim it is implied that he regards Jim as a fellow human being, not a slave. Showing Huck this equality and fostering a friendship between him and Jim could only be done by this kind of physical journey, as the idea of equality was only in its infancy at the time and had not taken root with any southerner.
Without a doubt, Huck develops into an individual who learns that society is not always right and that he needs to trust his instincts. Twain use of many stylistic features including syntax, diction, mockery, and sarcasm emphasizes the problems that society has. Twain’s overall purpose for his audience is to become more individualistic and not to be guided by the ways of society. People need to make their own decisions based on their values and instincts.
Jim gets captured by Mr. Phelps, thus separating Huck and Jim. Huck debates on what he should do in this situation, whether he should write Miss Watson a letter telling her that Jim has been captured or go on his own to figure out how to free Jim himself. Huck writes out a letter to Miss Watson telling her he’s been captured. ‘“It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: All right, then, I’ll go to hell-and tore it up”’ (Twain 206). Huck does this because he remembers all the wonderful things Jim has done for Huck and how great of a friend Jim has been to him. Huck also would rather go to hell than have Jim captured, even though he knows it is wrong religiously, he does not care because his conscience is telling him to go free Jim out of slavery. Huck makes this sacrifice for Jim because of their relationship. Huck also knows it is wrong, but his conscience is leading him towards being a good friend to Jim because of the race issues he knows he has to free Jim.
...ng emotions which is something that Huck finds incorrect. Throughout the book, Jim’s emotions are showcased which results in Huck’s pity and also his connection to Jim because now he wants to help Jim become a free man and escape the wrongdoings of society.
This realization contradicted what he had been told about slaves, which caused Huck to put the views of his civilization into greater inquiry than he thought primarily. While Huck expands his views on how slaves love their families, he was immensely dissatisfied with the fact that Jim had a desire to “steal his children—children that belonged to a man he didn’t even know; a man that hadn’t ever done him any harm”. Huck still acquired beliefs that suggested Jim’s ambitions to be an extreme violation of moral behavior and beyond a crime; a sin adjacent to God’s requirements.
The friendship between Huck and Jim is constantly changing with the chain of events. The two characters encountered many things while floating along with the pace of the Mississippi, such as making decisions. In the novel Huck was forced to make the decision whether or not he would turn Jim in because it would be the, "right thing" to do because Jim was a run-away slave. It was a close place. I took...up [the letter I'd written to Miss Watson], and held it in my hand.
One of the main themes, and probably one of Twain's favorites, was the rejection of religion. Religion is one of the most constant targets of Twain's satirical pen. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain portrays contemporary religion as shallow and hypocritical. He criticizes the hypocrisy of conventional religion by comparing it with the true religion of Huck. Twain tended to attack organized religion at every opportunity, and the sarcastic character of Huck Finn is perfectly situated to allow him to do so. The attack on religion can already be seen in the first chapter, when Huck indicates that hell sounds like a lot more fun than heaven. This will continue throughout the novel, with one prominent scene occurring when the "King" convinces a religious community to give him money so he can "convert" his pirate friends. Mark Twain also used the contrast between the characters of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn to illustrate a romantic and realistic imagination. Tom is spectacularly imaginative in the boyish, romantic sense. Tom has filled his head with romantic adventure novels and ideas; this has shaped Tom's worldview and feeds his fantasies, which he is constantly trying to act out. After reading about gangs and highwaymen, Tom decides to build a gang wishing to rob people and become successful highwayman. Tom's gang would kill or ransom the men and get the women to love them. Often times Tom's romantic imagination is not just silly, but downright dangerous. An example of this dangerous romantic imagination was when Huck wanted to free Jim and Tom was enlisted to help. Tom, knowing full well that Ms. Watson had released Jim prior to her death, did not disclose this information to Huck; he wanted to have an adventure helping Jim "escape". During the elaborate escape, Tom wanted Jim to train animals in his prison and have a coat of arms. Tom also sent Jim's captors warning of the upcoming escape attempt. Tom didn't know of the necessity to get Jim out now and not later.