Huckleberry Finn Passage Analysis

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In the novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Huck Finn’s standpoint on Jim changes severely from the beginning all the way to the end of the book. Huck thinks of Jim as an inferior, illiterate slave. But this idea about Jim isn’t necessarily how Huck truly feels about him. It is 1800s in the South and slavery is alive and well, so this is all Huck knows. Blacks are denigrated in the society in which Huck and Jim live in, so they are thought to be property. But on their journey, Huck’s feelings begin to change because he sees that Jim is a good guy and that he is like any other person. In Chapter 14, Huck and Jim have a conversation about King Solomon and the Frenchman. This goes on for a while and finally at the end of the chapter, Huck parts with Jim and opines, “it warn't no use wasting words--you can't learn a nigger to argue. So I quit.” (Twain, 60). He was contemptuous of a black man’s cognitive capacity and ability to think with reason. Not to mention, this is a …show more content…

He continues to make him feel dumb and keeps on with his joke, “Well, I think you’re here, plain enough, but I think you’re a tangle headed old fool Jim.” (Twain, 63). Jim soon enough catches onto Huck’s foolish game and is upset about his insensitivity, “En all you wuz thinkin ‘bout wuz how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie.” (Twain, 65). Huck’s response to this was, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger.” (Twain, 65). This was a reflection of his feelings of primacy over Jim. He thinks Jim has no intellect and can be tricked by a “little prank.” At last, Huck comes to his senses and realizes the impact that it had on him, because Jim was worried about Huck and his safety. Though he had to “humble himself,” his apology to Jim was a step toward victory over the values of his

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