What Is Jim's Role In Huckleberry Finn

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a mischievous teenager named Huck Finn. Huck runs away from his home, because he does not want to be forced to live with his abusive father in a cabin. When he runs away, he meets up with a runaway slave named Jim. Huck recognizes Jim, because he worked for the Widow Douglas, who adopted Huck before his dad kidnaps him. Together they travel and do almost everything with each other. Jim acts as a father figure to Huck, because his actual father proves to not be very good at raising Huck. Brownell, The author of the essay The Role of Jim in Huckleberry Finn, defends the idea of Jim being an important protagonist, who not only travels with Huck, but also provides him with moral guidance. Throughout the story,

Jim acts as a moral catalyst to Huck, and helps him to grow and mature into a more accepting person.
Huck enjoys pulling pranks on Jim, which tends to show his immaturity and inability to separate him from the “trickster” archetype.

As a result of his immaturity, Huck causes issues with the people who care about him. For example, Huck and Jim become separated from each other, and Huck tries to convince Jim that he dreams the situation. However, Jim realizes that Huck is messing with him, which saddens Jim. Huck then apologizes to Jim, because he realizes how much that his prank hurt him: “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to and humble myself to a nigger-but I done it and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards…”(Twain 94). This is a turning point for Huck, because he starts to realize that Jim is not just property, but a human with real emotions. It also shows that Huck can relate more to Jim than he can to the other characters in the book, because he struggles to feel empathy for others. This proves how Huck starts to mature, because he understands that he hurt Jim, which ultimately leads him to apologize to Jim. Brownell also expresses similar ways Huck changes for the better because of Jim. For example, Brownell expresses in his essay, “But it is this incident [when Huck lies to] Jim which,

above all others, shows concern “hurting others” in its full meaning…”(Brownell). Again, this enforces the idea that Huck is changing as a result of being with Jim. Brownell touches on the idea that this is really one of the first instances in which Huck starts to show empathy for his actions. Without Jim, Huck would not show any remorse for his actions and continue to act childish. However, having Jim to help influence him to act more mature, Huck gradually starts to mature and make better since Huck’s actions prompt a serious reaction from Jim, Huck starts to feel the need to change. Brownell also notes that this is one of the first times Huck really shows signs of change, because his apology to Jim is one of the only instances he really feels guilty for his actions, and shows that he cares with an apology. Throughout the novel Huck also starts to change from some of Jim’s stories.
As the story progresses, Huck starts to develop an understanding for how he feels about Jim. Jim starts to talk about his family to Huck, and this causes Huck to consider that there is a person underneath Jim: “…I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so”(Twain 181). This is another big turning point for Huck, as he starts to realize that the color of a person’s skin does not define who they really are as a person. Jim helps him to see this by talking about how he cares family, which results in Huck starting to realize that Jim. The fact that he starts to recognize that Jim has different color skin, but is still a person shows that he is making progress towards becoming a more civilized human. Huck also shows that he is changing for the better, when he says, “All right, then I’ll go to Hell” (Twain pg#). At this point, he understands that he has made a lot of poor choices in his life, and he feels that he should help save Jim from slavery instead of telling the truth. This shows the bond that the two have created from being together, and how Huck’s character is changing.
Huck’s character gradually changes as the book progresses, and he starts to realize how Jim is an important figure in his life. Jim helps Huck to realize that he does not have to give in to the temptation of racism and that black people are the same as white people. Huck struggles to sympathize for other person at the beginning of the book, but this is another area, where Jim helps Huck to see how his actions affect other people. Without Jim, Huck would continue to become a racist and not politically correct person he was growing into. However, Jim works as a moral guide, who helps to mold Huck into the better person he is at the end of the book.