the adventures of huckleberry finn by mark twain

Dey ain’t’ no sense in it.” “Looky here, Jim does a cat talk like we do? (Twain 105)” Jim believes that people are made equal, which makes him reject slavery even more.

This is how he reacts to the news that people speak different languages around the world: “Well, it’s a blame ridiculous way, en I don’t want to hear no mo’ ’bout it. Lastly, another admirable trait that Jim possesses is his faith in the equality of all people. One example is him guessing that it is going to rain by observing birds’ behavior.

In fact, Jim is so protective of Huck that he is ready to sacrifice his own freedom.įor example, this is how Jim reacts when he thinks that Huck got lost: “”My heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’t k’yer no mo’ what become er me en de raf’ (Twain 348).” Jim is clearly stating that the pain of losing a friend would be greater than losing an opportunity to become a free man.įurther, Jim is street smart: despite the lack of education, he can come to the right conclusions and help other people. In a way, Jim becomes a father figure for the boy who has never been surrounded by love and acceptance. The man may be naive to a fault, but this personality trait also makes him fiercely loyal to Huck Finn. However, as the narration progresses, the reader gets a chance to become familiar with the other sides of Jim’s character and see his humanity. Jim is obviously uneducated and conditioned by society into believing everything he is told. At first, this character design may come off as stereotypical for the era when Twain was creating his masterpieces. He believes in superstitions and is easy to talk into basically anything. Right from the beginning of the novel, Jim strikes the reader as a naive and gullible person. Another possible occurrence that compelled Twain to create Jim’s character is a memorable event in the writer’s life when a friendly farmer saved his and his family’s lives. Different sources hint at the possibility of Twain’s taking inspiration in his uncle’s slave, Uncle Daniel, who impressed him with his kindness and openness. Jim is one of the most interesting and controversial figures in American literature. This paper proves that Mark Twain is strongly anti-slavery by discussing each of the aforementioned points. The latter also serves as a test of Huck Finn’s character who is forced to choose between “civilization” that allows making his friend Jim a chattel property and nature that created him a free being. Another telltale sign that Mark Twain was anti-slavery is the plot arc with Jim’s liberation.

The adventures of huckleberry finn by mark twain