preview

Huckleberry Finn Property

Decent Essays
Open Document

Twain shows that he believes racism is able to be unlearned regardless of a person’s surroundings through white southerners, like Huck, who come to the realization that despite skin color, blacks are as humane as any white person. Huckleberry Finn, the main character in Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , gradually discovers that anyone, regardless of their race, is capable of being a companion and being an ethical human being as he ventures down the Mississippi River with the slave of his foster mother’s sister, Jim. Before his camaraderie with Jim, Huck was indifferent towards the treatment of slaves and considered them the white man’s property, but through their friendship he was able to show that racism is taught and one can choose …show more content…

The first time that Jim is mentioned in the book, during the scene where Huck and Tom Sawyer went to play a trick on him, Huck continuously referred to Jim as “Miss Watson’s big nigger, Jim” (Twain 25). The fact that he refers to Jim as “Miss Watson’s nigger” to then say his actual name shows that he viewed Jim as a white person’s piece of property. Huck’s decision to play the joke on Jim despite his fear of Jim waking up shows that he feels comfortable bothering Jim and using him as a source of entertainment, seeing as he went to play a trick on him. The depth of Huck’s racism and his initial feelings towards black people is also shown when Jim first tells Huck that he ran away, and Huck replies, “People would call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum--but that don’t make no difference” (Twain 50). The fact that Huck has to fear being called a “ low down …show more content…

When Huck and Jim were still on the island Huck decided to play a trick on Jim by putting a snake in his bed and endangering him for fun, and forgot that he planted the snake which ultimately led to Jim getting bitten and in response Huck, “ slid out quiet and throwed the snakes clear amongst the bushes; for [he] warn’t going to let Jim find out it was all [his] fault, not if [he] could help it” (Twain 60). The fact that Huck “slid out quiet” shows he was sneaking because he knew what he did was wrong; Huck deciding that he “warn’t going to let Jim find out” shows his intentional decision to not let Jim know it was him who put him in danger which shows a lack of maturity on Huck’s part and also a lack of respect for Jim as another human being. Rather than being upfront Huck decides to play dangerous tricks on Jim and then doesn’t own up to his tricks which highlights that Huck saw Jim as a play toy that he could poke fun at whenever he saw fit and didn’t even respect Jim enough to tell him about the tricks he played on him. In addition, Huck’s inner struggle between whether or not he believes Jim’s impending freedom was good or not is shown when they begin sailing down the Mississippi River and Jim continuously gets excited because he thinks he’s nearing freedom while Huck begins to

Get Access