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Huckleberry Finn And Jim's Relationship

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In Huckleberry Finn, the idea behind the relationship between Huckleberry Finn and Jim is critical to understanding these characters from a base state. Both of these characters come from different backgrounds and have different views on various issues, so how were these characters able to bond throughout their adventures? Throughout the book, Huckleberry Finn and Jim’s relationship evolved through the idea of respect gained for one another and through the adventures that these two share together. Arguments over the origin of the change in relationship between Huck and Jim state that because huck never had a true father that was there for him; therefore, he sees Jim as this fatherly role that he can look up to and learn from. However these …show more content…

The theory that Huckleberry and Jim’s relationship came from an idea of mutual respect, changing over time, is one that can be backed up using quotes, facts, and statistical evidence. For example, early in the book, you can see that Huck thinks of Jim of an uncivilized and uneducated slave who can't think or make decisions on his own. This comes as no surprise, as Huck was raised in a predominantly white society in the south, where slavery was a common thing. The influence of Huck's father has also had a on Huck. Huck’s father is deemed as the lowest of the low of society. He is violent, a drunk, and extremely racist. An example of his racism can be seen in various texts including his quote from chapter 6 quoting, “Here was a free nigger there from Ohio—a mulatter, most as white as a white man. He had the whitest shirt on you ever see, too, and the shiniest hat; and there ain't a man in that town that's got as fine clothes as what he had; and he had a gold watch and chain, and a silver-headed cane—the awful- est old gray-headed nabob in the State. And what do you think? They said he was a p'fessor in a college, and could talk all …show more content…

Once thinking of Jim as uneducated and incapable of thinking on his own, he eventually comes to find Jim as a friend who he has emotional ties to. An example of this is in chapter 15 after Jim and Huck get split up from the fog. Huck decides to play a trip on Jim by telling him that it was all a dream, however when Jim finds out, he is hurt and is angry that Huck would make a joke about Jim worrying about him so much. Huck Feels bad about this because he did not want to hurt Jim. However by this stage in the book, Huck still has the notion that Jim does not have the same rights as him quoting, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd a knowed it would make him feel that way.” From this quote you can tell that Huck doesn't quite have total respect for him because he is African American, but he still cares enough about Jim as a friend to not regret his apology and to apologize in the first

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