Jim And Huckleberry Finn's Relationship Analysis

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

In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it follows the story of a young boy named Huck who goes on an adventure with a runaway slave named Jim. During this time period slaves aren’t viewed as citizens but as someone who doesn’t deserve to have any rights. However, Huck saw Jim in several other ways than him just being a slave. He saw Jim as a father figure, a slave and a friend.

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, gives an eye opening view of the South during this time period through the eyes of Huck and Jim. Huck and Jim are very unlikely friends but become friends never the less and share many experiences on the river together. The two influence each other in more ways than one and may not even realize they do. They both have their own opinions and views although society heavily impacts them. Society’s view on racism is Huck’s view on racism because that is what he was brought up to be. The society has a powerful effect to smother problems such as slavery and racism. Huck being brought up in a society that ingrains racism in to you as a child is struggling to decide what is morally right and wrong to do and who will hopefully realize Jim's humanity at the end of the novel (Culture Shock).While talking to Huck, Aunt Sally projects "It warn't the grounding -- that didn't keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinder-head." "Good gracious! anybody hurt?" "No'm. Killed a nigger." "Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people

Mark Twain tells the story of Huckleberry Finn, and his maturity that is developed through a series of events. This maturity is encouraged through the developing relationship between Huck and Jim, as well as the strong influence Jim has on Huck. Jim's influence not only effects Huck's maturity, but his moral reasoning; and the influence society has on Huck. Jim is Huck's role model; even though Huck would not admit it. At first Jim seems to portray a Black stereotypical role with his superstitions and ignorance, although his true identity and maternal role begins to shine through as his interactions with Huck progress.

In the novel, Huck learns a big lesson. Huck bonds with Jim causing him to rethink many things he is taught. Jim exclaims, “‘Dah you goes, de ole true Huck, de on’y white genlmen dat ever kep’ his promise to ole Jim’” (Twain 83). Jim is a slave, therefore, he is not treated with much kindness.

He begins to despise the stipulation set towards human nature and mindsets toward abolition. Huck derives such perseverance towards their condition as Jim continuously describes his life after gaining freedom. There is an instantaneous gleam of happiness that is achieved once they become near Cairo, that has led Huck to be astounded by his change in hope. To illustrate, “Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I began to get it through my head that he was most free-and who was to blame for it? Why, me.” (Ch. 16). Significantly, this defines the moment where Huck indicates what “coming of age” is. He has grown to assess himself and resonate that the judgement of others has no relevance towards how he should fulfill his sensibilities. As expressed, “...and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n.” (Ch. 23). Huck distinguishes the idea that Jim shouldn’t be judged either. Just as anybody else, his actions had to define him. Not by the color of his skin or what society had labeled him. Even more, Jim had emotions. There wasn’t an instance where he didn’t care about his family just as any other man, it had been vital to him. With that in mind, Huck acknowledged the desperate need to be set free, because there is no division in the intent of

This is made prominent when Jim discusses about his family with Huck. In which Jim explains to Huck about how guilty he feels about slapping his daughter, that is when Huck realizes, “And I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their,” (Twain 139). Towards the end of the novel Huck starts to perceive the fact African American are also human and the same as white people. Also demonstrating Huck developing new morals and maturing. In the beginning of the novel, Huck thought himself to be more superior to African Americans because he was white. As the book progressed, Huck came to realize that African Americans are equal and there is no superior group within the two. Also depicting Huck breaking away from his environmental and societal morals and developing his own, which also displays maturity and him growing as a character. Another archetype of Huck maturing was when he started to feel guilty about stealing Jim, also Miss. Watson’s slave, the women that taught him manners and gave him shelter. He felt as though he was deceiving her, however, when he thought about turning Jim in he realizes, “ Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on; s’pose you’d ‘a’ done right and give Jim up, would you felt better than what you do now? No, I’d feel bad- I’d feel just the same way I do now,” (Twain 83). In this part of the novel, Huck comes to realize what is right and what is wrong. In the beginning Huck was too immature to discriminate

Huck comes to the realization that Jim cares about his family as much as a white person would. At this point Huck stops seeing Jim as a slave, but sees him as a companion and as an equal. This is a major step in his moral development in the fact that he no longer follows what is sociably expected but rather takes his own path on what he consciously knows is

Although it may appear that Huck is only travelling with Jim for himself, he is rather aiding with Jim’s escape to the North. Jim intends on doing so in order to escape the discrimination he faces in the South as a slave. The oppression Jim faces is severe, in all the towns him and Huck visit, he is always seen as inferior and prompted to serve the white people around him. Unfortunately, people of African American descent are still treated as inferior, as Mark Twain denotes to through the

They become best friends, Huck even says, “I was the best friend Jim Ever had in the world. ”(Twain 214) Huck and Jim are best friends and Huck is willing to go against the morals of the society he was taught by in order to stay with Jim and to keep Jim Free. This Defiance of society’s racist morals is not intended to be racist but to show that racism is wrong and that people of all races can become friends and have strong

Huck starts thinking, “I went along slow then, and I warn’t right down certain whether I was glad I started or whether I warn’t. When I was fifty yards off, Jim says, ‘Dah you goe’s, de ole true Huck; de on’y white gentleman dat ever kep’ his promise to ole Jim.’ Well, I just felt sick.” (Twain 114). Jim has taught Huck about compassion and empathy, as well as to reject the racist upbringing he had. Slowly but surely, with the help of Jim, we see Huck beginning to form his own beliefs about the world, and reject the upbringings he

Since Jim cannot be out in the open it requires Huck and Jim to reverse societal roles as servant and master. This tasks Huck to make food for him and care for any of his needs; Huck submits to Jim and reverses the role of civil systems in the South, where a black man is subordinate to a white man. The relationship from a slave to his master is supposed to be respectful and authoritative; however Jim is dependent on Huck. Huck represents a feminine and subordinate character by his support for anti-slavery and showing the plight of slaves in the antebellum South. The struggle between gender identity and subordination are good insights into Mark Twain’s ideas about sexuality because in same-sex relationships there are dominant and submissive counterparts that each person takes

Jim as a father figure is the polar opposite our protagonists biological father. In one particular conversation that Jim and Huck were having, we heard a story about Jim had hit his young daughter. Jim yelled at his daughter to shut the door but it seemed as though she kept ignoring him. Eventually Jim got infuriated and ran up to his daughter. Jim explained that, “En wid dat I fetch' her a slap side de head dat sont her a-sprawlin'. (Graff, Phelan 155)” This is the only real example of Jim committing physical violence for the sake of cruelty. The way that Pap responds to physical violence and the way that Jim do is drastically different from one another. In the next passage we find out that Jim's daughter is deaf and dumb and that he came

A major theme in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is slavery and our evolvement towards the institution. “In fact, Twain’s novel is often taught as the text that epitomizes this tradition, with Huck held up as its exemplar: a boy courageous enough to stand against the moral conventions of his society. . .” (Bollinger, 32 – Say It Jim) In the beginning of Huckleberry Finn’s relationship with Jim, he has little respect for him and as their journey progresses he

Despite an ardent view on slavery evident through interactions with Jim, Huck’s slowly shifting view of Jim from that of ignorance to seeming acceptance expresses his ability to stray from flawed societal values to his own developed moral code of conduct. This becomes evident when Huck protects Jim from men who board his raft, by hinting he has smallpox. Although one can see this as compassion for Jim, Huck questions with racist undertones, “s’pose you done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad” (Twain 127). However, he later affirms himself to “do whatever come handiest at the time.” (Twain 127). At this point, society still influences Huck, but his statement marks his decision to detach from societal values, and eventually allows him to form his own views on Jim. This comes slowly, as Huck cannot shake free from racism.