“In 1860, 89 percent of the nation's African Americans were slaves;.” (Gilder Lehrman”Instritute 2) This statistic implies the desire at this time to break away from slavery, and Jim acts upon his desire to be free in the novel. Jim faces many struggles in order to gain his freedom but does not stop at anything in order to accomplish his goal. Throughout his journey he impacts several people that he encounters along the way, especially Huck. Jim is the hero of the novel in more ways than just breaking away from slavery; his genuinely kind characteristics are what make Jim different and someone that Huck looks up to. Thesis: In Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he portrays Jim as the hero of the novel through Jim’s ability to humanize throughout the novel as portrayed through his friendship with Huck. I. Pap being the man he was left Huck needing someone to look up to. Once Jim and Huck became closer Jim started to fill the shoes of the fatherly figure that Huck needed all along. A. Jim not only as a friend, but as a father wants to do whatever he can or has to do in order to protect Huck. 1. In chapter nine Twain portrays Jim as a father figure to Huck through showing Jim’s protective instincts. “It’s a dead man. Yes indeed, naked too. He’s ben shot in de back. I reck’n he’s been dead two, er three days. Come in Huck, but doan’look at his face – it’s too gashly.” (Twain 50.) 2. Jim wants to protect Huck from seeing his father’s dead body. Jim in this way is being the father that Huck always needed. This is part of the beginning of Huck and Jim’s friendship and it really shows how much Jim cares for Huck. Jim is just starting to play the fatherly role for Huck as ironically Jim finds Huck’s real dad dead. 3. ... ... middle of paper ... ...d it with all his might. Even though Tom and Jim were not as close as Huck and him Jim still chose to stay with Tom, showing the kind of person that Jim was. Actions like this were what gave Jim such great character and that character was noticed when he helped Tom and risked his freedom. Conclusion: Jim struggling to gain his freedom shows us not only his perseverance but also the strong character he continues to build throughout the novel. Jim makes a major impact on Huck’s life, different from all of those who came in and left without making a difference in the novel. Their friendship is something that is valued through their entire Journey , and also changes Jim for the better by bringing out his compassionate and caring side. Breaking away from slavery and impacting lives of people around him, Jim makes the perfect hero for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Mark Twain, in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn describes two different “Jims:” one being Huckleberry Finn’s biological father, and the other the slave of Miss Watson. Each of the characters are developed throughout the context of the story leading the audience to determine which Jim serves as a better father figure to Huck. Through Twains narrative, Jim Finn or “Pap” becomes infamous for his abusiveness toward Huck. Jim the slave serves as Pap’s antithesis throughout the story however; he is a benevolent man and helps Huck change his morals that have been instilled in him by Pap. It is the compassionate man, Miss Watson’s slave, who obtains the qualities that allow him to be considered Huck’s “true father” over Pap.
Spending time with the King and the Duke, Huck learned about how people can have the heart to deceive each other in the most evilest ways. When Jim get kidnapped and taken away Huck knew it was wrong and it was right to help get him set free. His relationship built with him was ignited by the brotherhood companionship inscribed in his heart, he just needed a person to ignite it. At the end of the novel Jim is set free because of Huck. Huck learns that sometimes don't have to follow the rules of society if you believe in something. Something that gives you divine right to believe it is a morally good thing to do.
... come around from his racist ways. Huck only cares about going around and having adventures, not freeing Jim from slavery. When he finally tries to free Jim from slavery, he only does so because Jim is captive and he has no one to spend time with. If Huck really cared about Jim as much as he did adventuring, he would have traveled north into Illinois where Jim would have been safe.
...who has ever “kep’ his promise to ole Jim” (80). Another character quality that Huck learns from Jim is that African-Americans are people too that can feel the same about their family as Caucassians feel about theirs. Huck often hears Jim moaning in the night about being homesick and missing his family. This is when Huck understands that just because Jim is African-American does not mean that they are incapable of having the same feelings as Caucassians. In general Jim affects Huck positively because now Huck is humble, trustworthy, and not as influenced by society about African-Americans.
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,
Along their journey together, the readers realize that Jim is basically the father that Huck has never had; Jim cares for and protects Huck despite whatever may become of him. Huck returns these sentiments because he soon grows to love the slave, and their mutual affection is cemented when Huck is “ever so glad to see Jim” (41). With this, Twain urges the audience to see Jim as an equal and compassionate individual. By doing so, Twain shows how the society is corrupt and foul, as it is enslaving and threatening the life of a man who is constantly risking his own salvation to save the people around him. Huck comes to the conclusion that Jim “had a good heart in him and was a good man” (286). For example, Jim is portrayed as a hero when he selflessly saves Tom Sawyer’s life. Despite the fact that Tom has been playing with Jim’s life-and-death circumstance, Jim decides to risk everything for the child even though he is well aware that that he is jeopardizing his own freedom. Here, the “nigger” is portrayed as more of a man than any white person and Twain uses this to show how wrong and sinful slavery is. The concept of slavery itself is built upon the idea that one race is better than the other; racism does not take morals, ethics, or beliefs into account when determining
Along with his protection of Huck’s mental state, Jim also strips away at Huck’s racism. When Huck and Jim are reunited after being separated, Jim is elated to see Huck alive and well. Huck decides to play a trick on Jim, and make him believe the whole thing never happened. Jim
...uck’s head he struggles between the moral reasons for breaking him out and the socially acceptable reasons for leaving him there. Finally Huck’s moral compass wins the argument and he resolves to save him. Twain uses this internal struggle to show that the values of people in the south that justify slavery are wrong and a person’s moral compass should be the only thing that guides their decisions. Twain sets this up perfectly with the construction of Jim’s character. By having a person who could never purposely harm someone and shows the most genuine sympathy and regret for every bad thing he has done creates the most likeable character. Arguing against saving such a likeable character like Jim even considering the fact that he is a slave, is almost impossible and makes the reader side with the more moral choice of saving Jim despite the social ideals of that time.
He would take care of Huck and made sure he was okay. Jim viewed Huck as a close friend and companion. However, during the beginning, Huck didn’t treat Jim the same way that Jim treated him because he still viewed Jim as a
Huck meets Jim as they both are running away from their lives, for different reasons. Huck and Jim head down the Mississippi. But Jim is a runaway slave and Huck is faced with a decision to help or turn Jim in. Huck comes very close to turning Jim in as he struggles to determine what is correct and what is not correct. Huck throughout the story struggles within him to find out for himself what is right and wrong. He sees Jim's compassionate nature and Good-Will and realizes the institution that is slavery is not moral and is in fact the opposite.
Huck and Jim form a strong friendship and mutual respect for each other created from their joint experiences absconding from different forms of imprisonment and resulting from the innumerable adventures they encounter along their journeys down the Mississippi River. Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the story of Huck’s personal growth and maturation as he escapes from the oppressing environment of the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson, and soon after he is forced to care of himself while assisting an escaped slave, Jim, elude capture from the constabularies. Huck is characteristically ingenuous in his comprehension of his life in the novel’s beginning. Restrictive as his environment may be, he is too young
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the author, Mark Twain takes the reader through a journey to freedom. The main character Huck Finn endures some of life’s greatest challenges, and how he handles them varies. Huck has to go on a backbreaking adventure with a runaway slave named Jim. Throughout this novel not only does Huck take the journey to freedom, but Jim joins him. Twain uses characterization to make Huck a strong-willed individual who is capable of deciding for himself. Twain intertwines this piece with many reoccurrences of the journey to freedom theme.
When Huck first meets Jim on the Island he makes a massive decision, not to turn Jim in. He is confronted by two opposing forces, the force of society and the force of friendship. Many times throughout the novel Huck comes very close humanizing Jim's slavery. However, he is never able to see a reason why this man who has become one of his only friends, should be a slave. Through this struggle, Twain expresses his opinions of the silliness of slavery and the importance of following one's personal conscience before the laws of society. By the end of the novel, Huck and the reader have come to understand that Jim is not someone's property and less of a man, but an equal.
What had been resolved was Jims freedom. And the way that Tom thinks and feels about Jim. He realized he thaught wrong him since day.
is as caring as he is. Huck's realization allows him to see that Jim is no