Good And Bad Decisions In Huckleberry Finn

First, throughout the book it becomes evident to the reader how selfless Jim is. Jim risks everything he has to save and protect not only the ones he loves but also puts everyone else's needs above his own. In the novel Huck States “He was saying how the first thing he would do when he got to a free state he would go to saving up money and never spend a single cent, and when he got enough he would buy his wife...then they would both work to buy the two children, and if their master wouldn't sell them, they'd get an Ab'litionist to go and steal them.” This quote is evidence of Jim's selflessness because it allows us to see that he risks recapture and torture in order to save his family. He is not only willing to spend so much time away from his family but also risking his life in order to save them. Everything that Jim is going to do for his family, is strictly for their benefit, and not his. Jim also displays selfness when he risks his life to save Tom,

No character in Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is flawless, but Jim clearly shines through as a hero throughout the novel because of his kindness, nobility, and loyalty. Initially just seen as a fool and used as a source for humor, Jim’s character depth develops throughout the book, and his humanity and goodness frequently dominates the story. Through his friendship with Huck we can see his heroic nature, even in small and seemingly insignificant moments. One example of this occurs when Huck describes the shifts that he and Jim would take at night to keep watch: “I went to sleep, and Jim didn’t call me when it was my turn. He often done that” (Twain 225). Jim’s preference to stay up so Huck can sleep shows his selflessness and compassion clearly.

Jim tells Huck he hit her for not listening to get to work, but he then finds out she has been recently made dea when she did not react to the door slamming shut from the wind. He realizes he hit her when she never even heard Jim to begin with. Jim was so distraught begging for forgiveness from the Lord and his daughter, because he would never forgive himself for his mistake. This shows Jim’s deep rooted connection with love of others and his humanity. Not only that, but Huck realizes he cares deeply for his family and is capable of emotions that otherwise racist ideologies have told him are not possible. Huck now believes that this cannot be the case since he sees Jim having strong familial ties with his own eyes. This example of Jim’s release of the minstrel mask makes Huck gain a higher opinion of him.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, you see how much people lie. People lie to protect others or for selfish reasons is a recurring theme shown through Huck, the Duke and the Dauphin and Tom Sawyer.

people based on their physical traits, such as skin color, and genetics. Race can be used as a mechanism for social division. As the novel unfolds, Huckleberry Finn’s perspective on race changes as he sees the importance for equality in Mark Twain’s, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Mark Twain emphasizes the theme that a person's morals are more powerful than the corrupt influence of society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Based on how Huck Finn views the world and forms his opinions, he does not know the difference between right and wrong. In the novel, Huck escapes civilized society. He encounters a runaway slave, Jim, and together they travel hopes of freedom. But along the way, Huck and Jim come across troubles that have Huck questioning his motives. Throughout their journey, Huck is aware that Jim has escaped but does not know whether or not to turn him into the authorities. Huck’s mentality about society matures and he realizes his need to protect Jim from dangers. As the novel progresses, Huck begins to realize the flaws in society. Huck ultimately chooses to follow his own

Chp.31). As Huck and Jim navigate down the Mississippi River, sharing narrow escapes and miracles, their bond develops. Huck comes to love and respect Jim, but the notion of doing the “right” thing tells him to turn Jim in. From his bringing up, he believes he has a moral obligation to turn Jim in, because Jim is Miss Watson’s ‘property’. But, reminiscing of his Journey with Jim and “how good he always was”, Huck denies the moral code society placed upon him and decides he will do everything to go save Jim. Smiley says that throughout the entire story “Twain really saw Jim as no more than Huck’s sidekick”, as "Jim is never autonomous never has a vote, always finds his purposes subordinate to Huck's, and, like every good sidekick, he never minds” (Smiley). Yet, we see in Huck’s moral dilemma, how he understands how great and amazing of a person that Jim is when they were “floating along talking, and singing, and laughing”, that he finally defeats the concept of Jim being just a ‘sidekick’ or a slave (HF. Chp 31). Huck truly sees Jim as his equal when he commits his entirety to saving Jim, getting mad that to society, Jim amounted only to “forty dirty dollars” (HF. Chp 31). Although he considers turning Jim in and struggles against the constant thought because society would get angry “that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom” and he would be condemned “to everlasting fire” , we see a person able to defeat mainstream conventions and strive for what he as an individual believes stands as truly right (HF. Chp 31). Smiley claims that the story is only “lighting out for the territory" for racism, but without first convincing the majority of people to judge people by their value rather than what

Mark Twain makes it clear in the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that niggers in the 1800’s were treated differently and much less than anyone else. To think of Jim a black slave as a person and not property back then was huge thing but to think that he is a Christ like figure is beyond anything. As the textual evidence below shows the proof that jim was seen as a christ figure in this novel. It will show how and why Jim is a Christ figure.

Jim was seen as a slave, a friend, and a father figure throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Huck. He was a very important part of Huck’s life and helped him mature mentally and physically. No matter what happened, Jim was always there for Huck, and Huck was always there for Jim. Even though in the beginning of the novel Huck started questioning what he was doing. Jim showed Huck that you don’t have to be the same skin color or ethnicity, or anything to be friends and care about one

Jim, a runaway slave, is the most influential individual when it comes to Huck’s moral development. During the beginning of the novel, Huck’s morals are primarily based on what he has learned from Miss Watson. Huck begins to become wary of such ideals that Miss Watson has imposed on him, and decided all he wanted “…was a change” (Twain 10). As Huck escapes from society by running away he had the chance of running into Jim on Jackson Island. During this time Huck displays his moral growth after playing a trick on Jim. Huck displays his moral growth because after placing a snake skin under Jim’s blanket, which eventually causes Jim to be bitten by a snake, he

Located in Philippians 2:7, “[Jesus Christ made himself nothing] taking the form of a servant” (as qtd. in Jones 2). Similar to Jesus Christ 's servanthood, Jim endured a dismal life of enslavement. Moreover, Jim served the king and duke like Jesus Christ served humanity; however, their past is not the only correspondence between the two seemingly heterogeneous individuals. Both Jim and Jesus Christ share similar personality traits. The resemblance between Jim and Christ leads to the assumption that Jim symbolizes a Christ figure in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Jim possesses the ability to sacrifice himself and to forgive others, identifying him as a Christ figure, in spite of his readiness to lie.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn deals with the social climate of 19th century southern America, and in turn, the complementary racism to anyone not white. Although set in twenty years before the book was released, it (and Mark Twain) received a lot of criticism for the novel by a society that hadn’t evolved quite to what Twain had expected. Ironically enough, the book is now banned for the opposite reason it was banned when it came out. The book was considered vulgar, through its language and through its actions. The idea of a white boy who would treat a slave as a human wasn’t taken lightly. In the book, Huck struggles with moral issues on how Jim is a real person, and whether he should follow the law and society’s standard and turn him

1. Many African-American organizations have gotten together to ban Huck Finn from public education centers in New York City because of constant use of the N-word. Miami schools in 1969 got rid of the book because African-American student were thought to be mentally affected by it, which causes them not to be able to learn effectively (Wallace 16-17).

Often times when people talk about family, the idea that people who do not share the same blood can still be family comes up. Family is the people who have impacted you for the better, support and want what is best for you, and will stay loyal to you under any circumstances. Throughout the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, there are many different examples of both “blood family” and “real family”. Miss Watson and Jim are examples of real family to Huck. Miss Watson truly cares about Huck and wants what is best for him, and Jim develops a strong relationship with Huck which causes Huck to disobey the law for Jim’s safety. Pap however, who although he is genetically related to Huck, is not true family to him because he

Jim is the moral center of the story. He brings reason to situations, although unorthodox at times. He is depicted as a man with a kind heart and with no urge to hurt a soul. In the book, Jim does a lot of major things for Huck, but he is also kind and generous when it comes to little things: “I went to sleep, and Jim didn't call me when it was my turn. He often done that” (23.30). Here it is seen that Jim takes care of Huck just by letting him sleep a little longer. Another time when Jim looks over Huck is when the two find Huck’s father in the floating house: “It's a dead man. Yes, indeedy; naked, too. He's ben shot in de back. I reck'n he's ben dead two er three days. Come in, Huck, but doan' look at his face—it's too gashly" (9.18). Jim knows very well that the dead man is Huck’s father, but he wants to protect Huck from seeing his father in this condition. Other qualities of Jim that don’t seem to line-up with a racist novel include his unconditional trust in Huck and his loyalty for the people he cares