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Literary analysis on jim in huckleberry finn
Jims roles in the adventures of huckleberry finn essay
Literary analysis on jim in huckleberry finn
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The role of Jim The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the “one book” from which "all modern American literature" came, and contemporary critics and scholars have treated it as one of the greatest American works of art (Stephen Railton). Jim is a very controversial character in this novel. This book was made during the Civil War era where slavery was present. Jim is an African American runaway slave, from Miss Watson, who shares an incredibly strong bond with Huckleberry Finn. Jim was Huck’s companion as they floated down the Mississippi River. It was not easy for Jim to find comfort and security in things, so creating a bond with Huck was very significant. Jim is a dynamic character due to the fact that he changes over time. If Jim was …show more content…
Huck needed a father to get him where he wanted to be in life. Without a father, Huck would have probably been dead. Twain was hit with a lot of controversy about how they have created such a strong bond but how they are from different families and different races. (Encyclopedia Britannica Online). “It’s a dead man. Yes, indeedy; naked too. He’s ben shot in de back. I reck’n he’s ben dead two er three days. Come in, Huck, but doan’t look at his face-it’s too gashly.” (Twain 50). Jim cares about Huck in this quote because otherwise he wouldn’t have told him to not look at the dead man. “...but Jim didn’t want to. He said it would fetch bad luck; and besides, he said, he might come and ha’nt us, he said a man that warn’t buried was more likely to go a-ha’nting around than one that was planted and comfortable.” (Twain 52). Jim’s ideas can help Huck and aid him. “O, dang it, now, don’t take on so, we all has to have our troubles, and this’n ‘ll come out all right. What’s the matter with ‘em?” (Twain 73). This is a tough moment in the novel. Huck begins to break down and think about his family. Huck has never showed his emotions in that sense before in this story. Jim notices, he then tries to comfort Huck in the best way he possibly can. He then asks him about why he is getting upset. “Hello, what’s up? Don’t cry, bub. What’s the trouble?” (Twain 73). Jim is considerably caring despite how he is supposed …show more content…
There were many times when Jim could have separated from Huck, but chose to stay with him. “I went to the cavern to get some, and found a rattlesnake in there...thinking there’d be some fun when Jim found him there” (Twain 53). Huck thought it’d be funny to take a dead rattlesnake and put it by Jim’s foot while he slept. It seemed like a harmless joke, till Huck forgot about the snake. “Well, by night I forgot all about the snake...Jim flung himself on the blanket...bit him” (Twain 53). Huck did not kill the snake like he thought he had, and it ended up biting Jim when he was barefoot. Jim could have left Huck from this poorly thought out joke, but chose to stay and continue on the journey. Another example is when Jim was taken away from Huck. “He’s a runaway nigger, and they’ve got him...there’s two hundred dollars reward on him. It’s like picking up money out’n the road” (Twain 212). When Jim was taken, he never snitched on Huck and told everyone that he really wasn’t dead. He kept it a secret and stayed loyal to Huckleberry
...ke." Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism. Ed. Sculley Bradley, et al. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1977. 421-22.
Jim's character traits are easy to over look because of his seeming ignorance, but in reality Jim possessed some qualities that created a positive influence on Huck. He began by demonstrating to Huck how friends teach friends. His honest compassion also eventually causes Huck to resist the ideas society has placed upon him, and see Jim as an equal-- rather than property that can be owned. Huck knew he was going against society, and of the consequences that he could receive for freeing a slave. "It would get all around, that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was to ever see anybody from that town again, I'd be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame", (269-270). Huck then claims, "All right, then, I'll go to hell…"(272) This shows that Huck was willing to put himself on the line for a slave, because he ceased to view Jim as property and recognized him as a friend. At the beginning of the story Huck would have never done this, but after the many adventures that occur, Jims unconditional love for Huck pierces the shell society placed ar...
In the beginning of the novel, Huck tends to have an immature side to him. There are some things in the beginning that show that Huck still has a very childish side to him. "They get down on one thing when they don't know nothing about it." (Twain 2) This is showing the ignorance and stubbornness that all children experience throughout life. He thinks as if everything he does is right and everyone else is wrong. "That all comes of my being such a fool as to not remember that wherever you leave a dead snake its mate always comes there and curls around it." (Twain 40) This goes one step further. This shows Huck's Immaturity and Stupidity gone one step too far when he puts the snake in Jim's bed and he ends up getting bit by it. If Huck was more mature and less childish he wouldn't have been playing this so called joke on Jim. Huck learns that jokes have a limit to them at times and need to be thought out more clearly.
In the beginning of Huck's journey, he tells unharmful little white lies to play, often innocent, pranks on others. The snake skin prank was just Huck’s idea of a little fun. During the prank played on Jim, Huck lies without even really realizing it.
Clemens, Samuel. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Lexington: Heath, 1994. 236-419.
Even from the beginning of the story, Jim and Huck trust each other despite Jim’s knowing
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is the story of a young southern boy and his voyage down the Mississippi River accompanied by a runaway slave named Jim. Throughout the journey Huck and Jim face numerous obstacles and encounter a variety of interesting characters. These experiences help Huck to develop physically, intellectually, and most importantly, morally. Throughout the long expedition, readers can observe Huck’s transformation from an immature boy with poor values and ethics, to a matured young man with a moral conscience and a heightened sense of what is right and what is wrong despite what society says.
At one point, Huck’s father attempts to kill him in their home. “Bye-and-bye he rolled out and jumped up on his feet looking wild, and he see me and went for me, he chased me round and round the place with a clasp-knife, calling me the Angel of Death and saying he would kill me…” the reader by this point has developed their opinion of Huck, and must think to themselves, in what way twain has described the father. Twain has manipulated the father's language to show how the white father in the white dominated culture, is worse than anyone
In the beginning of the novel, Huck plays many practical jokes on Jim. Huck and Tom begin the novel by waking up Jim when he is sleeping under a tree. They are both very immature boys and think it will be fun to scare Jim. They act like Jim isn’t a human being and don’t seem to be bothered by the fact that he has feelings too. When Huck and Jim get separated by the fog Huck must think Jim is stupid and won’t catch onto his lie. “Aamy heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’ k’yer no’ mo’ what become er me en de raf’.En when I wake up en fine you back agin,all safe en soun’,de tears come,en I could a got down on my knees en kiss yo foot.”(109) Huck makes Jim believe the whole fog storm was just a dream and gets him very worried. Huck doesn’t realize that Jim is trying to protect him and be a father figure to him, and that he only wants the best for Huck. Huck also thinks Jim isn’t knowledgeable because he is a black slave. Huck and Jim are arguing and Huck feels Jim cannot say anything intelligent so Huck changes the subject. “I never seen such a nigger .If he got a notion in his head once, there warn’t no getting it out again. He was the most down on S...
Huck Finn thinks about his father in an unusual way. Huck does not like his father, which makes sense because his father is a greedy drunk, however Huck still looks up to his father as a role model. Pap is not a good role model for Huck because of his history of abusing Huck and his random disappearances. When Pap tries to gain custody of his Huck, the judges side with him just because he is the father. This is shown when Huck says “The judge and the widow went to law to ge...
Mark Twain, who is a realistic fiction writer, incorporates satire and humor in his writing, including Archetypal elements to modify how the reader interprets the story. He uses many archetypal characters like Huck and Jim who both can be argued as the heroes. They both have good intentions and help others. Mark Twain portrays Jim as a deeply caring and loyal friend. Jim becomes a father figure to Huck, helping him realize the human face of slavery. Twain Portrays Huck as a young and naive boy who has been under the wrong influence for a long time. Another archetypal element that Mark Twain uses is Jims Quest for freedom. This was a quest for most all African Americans, to run away north so you could be free. But Jim was one of the few who was brave enough to do so; that’s he can be classified as the hero in the story. But Jim’s life is not too bad compared to historical records about the lives of slaves. Even though he had to struggle for his freedom, he didn’t have any good reason to leave. His life contested of helping round and not doing hard enduring work like some of the other slaves. The way Jim’s life is portrayed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Mark Twain criticizes the life of African Americans at the time.
Over the 129 years for which the book has been in print, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been regarded with much controversy, for many different reasons. As it has progressed, the subject of this controversy has been almost constantly changing. This essay will explore some of the claims and explanations of the controversy, as well as a discussion on whether the book is even that controversial. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion about this novel, The main complaints seem to revolve around three core topics: Twain’s portrayal of Jim and other blacks, The extensive use of the racial slurs and racism, and the final chapters of the book itself.
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.
Twain, Mark, and Cynthia Johnson. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.
The way Huck and Jim encounter each other on the island, draws parallels in their similar backgrounds. Huck is torn between a life of manners and etiquette and a dangerous life a freedom, and while Jim at an impasse because he is being sold into slavery farther away from his home and away from his family. Each choice, for both characters comes with a cost so they both decide to runaway, in an attempt to assert some control over their lives. After spending much time together, the pair establish a connection which at times Huck feels guilty about since it violates everything he was raised to believe. At a certain point, Huck considers turning Jim in by, writing a letter, but after recalling the goods times they shared, Huck exclaims, "All right, then, I 'll go to hell!” (Twain) and quickly tears up the letter. Twain depicts Huck and Jim 's eventually friendship as a source of emotional strife for Huck and Huck constantly has to decide whether to abandon Jim and turn him in or abandon his religious beliefs and stay with Jim. The ripping up of the letter that would have turned Jim in symbolizes the choice Huck 's has selected. For this moment onward, Huck is dedicated to keeping Jim from being sold back into slavery and has no intent on going back on his choice. While there are times, Huck pays attention to the color of Jim 's skin he believes that