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
Even though Jim and Huck had a lot of good times, there was some bad times. For example, after Jim was taken back into slavery Huck mabe a plan to get him out but he said, “... it’s a dirty low-down business…” (Document F). This shows that Huck knew Jim was a slave and he knew messing with slaves a very low on the totem pole. Another example, would be when Huck was going to write a letter to Jim’s owner explaining where he was during that time, Huck says, “... everybody naturally despises an ungrateful nigger, and they’d make Jim feel it all the time… “ (Document E). This proves that by the end of the story Huck was thinking of Jim as a slave. However, a few bad moments do not define a
Aim: to be able to create a meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) for a pregnant women that incorporates the 5 vital nutrients, folic acid, protein, calcium, iron, carbohydrates that support the healthy growth and development of a foetus in pregnancy.
Two chapters into the story and Twain has already placed Huck and his friend Tom found themselves sneaking past a man in the kitchen Huck referred to him as, “Miss Watson’s big nigger, named Jim” (11). This is when Jim and Huck’s view on Jim is first introduced. Huck made it very clear on how he viewed him, Jim was nothing but Miss Watson's unimportant property in his eyes. After the two boys got away without being spotted Tom decided to pull a prank on Jim, Huck did not make any effort to stop him. The way Huck allowed Tom to humiliate Jim shows that he does not see him as a person worthy of respect due to the color of his skin. Jim was just an average slave, and his feelings never crossed Huck’s mind.
This is exactly the kind of behavior that twain didn’t like. However, the main theme in this book is breaking free. He urges his readers to do the right thing, not necessarily what everyone else is doing. He illustrates this ideal with Huck. Most everyone else thought of Jim, along with blacks in general, as something less than human. Huck knew this was wrong, and his actions followed this when he rescued Jim. Main characters Huckleberry Finn Huck is the narrator of the story and for the most part is honest to us, the readers. He dreads the rules and conformities of society such as religion, school, and everything else that will eventually make him civilized. A big debate surrounds Huck on whether he changes or not throughout the story. Huck, in the beginning, seems very set in the south’s anti-black ways, however, Huck states that he will go to hell to keep Jim out of slavery. At this point it seems like he does change, but at the end of the book, Huck plays yet another joke on Jim and seems as though any change was temporary. Huck has little sense of humor, which is ironical, considering the book is satirical. Twain has also been criticized about Huck’s character, in that it seems as though Huck knows too much for his age. In one of the movies Huck was about seventeen, in another he was about eight. I figure from the book that Huck is
Many view Huckleberry Finn as a racist book for the portrayal of the runaway slave, Jim, but Twain writes from Huck’s point of view, who was a product of his society. In the book, while using dialect and actions accurate for the time and location, Twain never portrays Jim in a negative light. In contrast to Huck’s father, Jim cares about Huck. For example, when Jim and Huck are reunited after getting lost in the fog, Jim tells Huck, “my heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’ k’yer no mo’ what become er me en de raf” (p. 157), as opposed to Huck’s father who only wants him around to prove he has control over Huck. This shows the difference between his white father who should be a strong male figure in his life, and a black man who actually looks out for Huck. Throughout the book, Huck comes to realize more and more that Jim is human just like
The second way Jim influences Huck's morality is Jim discipline of his own child Elizabeth shows Jim he cares more than Huck’s father did. An example of this is “ He was often moaning and mourning that way, nights, when he judged I was asleep, and saying “ Po’ little ‘Lizabeth! po’ little Johnny! it’s mighty hard; I spec’ I ain’t ever gwyne to see you no’, no mo’!” He was a mighty good nigger, Jim
Huck is just referring to Jim that way because that’s how he was raised and that is how everyone spoke back then. Even when Huck thought of Jim as a friend he still used the word “nigger,” but he didn’t use it in a harmful way, as of to insult anyone, but just as an everyday reference to black people that wasn’t exactly uncommon. Jim is no way portrayed as a bad character in this novel. Huck even believes Jim is a good person. You can see this when Huck states, “I thought he had a good heart in him and was a good man the first time I seen him.” Huck manages to look through Jim’s race and his own racist background and become his friend and helps lead him to freedom.
If the author wished-for the story to be racist, he would not write about the way Huck felt towards Jim. “He [Twain] tried to evince the beauty of Huck and Jim's friendship by sealing it in flawed and humble English.” ( Race Traitor [D’Andrea 1992]). It is seen some throughout the book that Huck sees Jim as a white man. Huck tells the reader this when he realizes that Jim misses his own family and children, “I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n” (150). Any words that seem to humiliate African-Americans is simply a casual use of Southern slang and not purposeful. Huck talks the way he was taught according to the culture then to stylize a specific behavior toward black slaves. However, his feelings toward Jim throughout the novel has taught Huck to conquer certain stereotypes, such as black stupidity and apathy. Huckleberry still
Less subtle are Huck’s observations of Jim as their relationship progresses. Jim at first is nothing but a source of amusement for Huck, but Huck slowly discovers the real person inside. In Chapter 23, Huck states, “…I do believe that he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for ther’n.” Later, Huck goes even further to say, “I knowed Jim was really white inside.” From Huck, this naïve statement was the highest compliment he could have given Jim, and reiterates the idea that a black man can have true emotions and real feelings, something that was not commonly believed at the
Huck’s relationship with Jim evolves through out the first chapters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Before their relationship evolved into a friendship, Huck saw Jim as an inferior, and Jim saw himself as one as well. Evolving into the end of Chapter 16, Huck has thoughts of apologizing for a trick he played on Jim, showing that Huck saw him as an equal, and a friend. The first time Huck speaks to Jim is on Jackson’s Island, when they are both runaways. “‘Well, I b’lieve you, Huck. I—I run off.’ ‘Jim!’ But mind, you said you wouldn’t tell—you know you said you wouldn’t tell, Huck.’ ‘Well, I did. I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it” (45). When Jim tells Huck the reason why he is out on Jackson’s Island, Huck is surprised, as Jim became nervous and tried to use Huck’s word against his own. Clearly there still is not a lot
The relationship between Huckleberry Finn and Jim are central to Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Huck's relationships with individual characters are unique in their own way; however, his relationship with Jim is one that is ever changing and sincere. As a poor, uneducated boy, Huck distrusts the morals and intentions of the society that treats him as an outcast and fails to protect him from abuse. The uneasiness about society, and his growing relationship with Jim, leads Huck to question many of the teachings that he has received, especially concerning race and slavery. Twain makes it evident that Huck is a young boy who comes from the lowest levels of white society. Huck's father, Pap, is a drunk who disappears for
Huck’s views regarding black people come into question when Huck and Jim run away together. Their experiences together let them become closer to each other and let Huck recognize Jim as a human being with real feelings. Huck starts to view Jim as a caring individual when they are on the raft. This is a scene taken from when Jim and Huck were working together on the raft and Jim was trying to protect them both from the rain, “Jim took up some of the top planks of the raft and built a snug wigwam to get under in blazing weather and rainy, and to keep the things dry. Jim made a floor for the wigwam, and raised it a foot or more above the level of the raft, so now the blankets and all the traps was out of reach of steamboat waves” (Twain, pg 64). In this part of the novel, Huck seems to be all Jim has, and Jim is also all Huck seems to have, and they work together to build a place that the waves cannot reach them. Their feeling of friendship is born through working together and protecting each other. Even though Huck and Jim are having new experiences together, Huck’s conscience is still going back and forth about the idea of freeing a slave. This quote is taken from when Huck
Mexican Border Problems The U.S.-Mexico border region is one of the most dynamic in the world. It extends more than 3,100 kilometers (2,000 miles) from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, and 100 kilometers (62.5 miles) on each side of the international border and is marked by high concrete fences in the west and a broad shallow river in the east when it reaches Texas. The region includes large deserts, numerous mountain ranges, rivers, wetlands, large estuaries, and shared aquifers. While its people share natural resources like water and air, the border region is characterized by many social, economic, and political contrasts.
Finding it hard to prostrate himself to a black person, Huck displays societal ideas of white supremacy. At the same time, however, Huck continues by stating, “I wouldn’t done that one if I’d knowed it would make him feel that way (Twain 105). This reveals his changing attitude towards Jim, and reflects his ability to respect Jim’s emotions as a fellow human. This compassion for Jim continues to evolve during their journey, however, muddied by Huck’s racism.
After watching a few episodes of my favorite show, Gravity Falls, I noticed a distasteful trait in one of the protagonists- Mabel Pines. In at least five different episodes, I witnessed Mabel force her brother, Dipper, to sacrifice things that he valued in order for her to possess things that she valued. The defining moment occurred whenever she ran away, after learning of Dipper’s possible internship opportunity, which required him to leave home. I was too angry to speak whenever the show’s conflict concluded with Dipper agreeing to not take the internship in order for Mabel to forgive him and come home. This ongoing conflict -due to Mabel’s seemingly helpless character flaw- made the show a little less pleasant to watch and has kept me from