Understatement is used by both authors to make the readers feel an emotion. In the novel by Mark Twain, after encountering Tom's aunt, Miss Sally, Huck explains how the cylinder head exploded and states that, “No’m. Killed a nigger.” (221) Although Huck unexpectedly helped Jim with his escape at the beginning of the novel which lead the readers to believe he’s different from the southern society, he continues to treat black people as though they are nothing. Once the readers read that, they are in shock because after all Jim and Huck have been through, Huck makes it sound as though Jim does not matter due to him being black.This makes the readers feel as though there’s no hope for change within the people from the southern society. He says
Twain knows exactly how the reader will have ambivalence after reading the n-word numerous amounts of time. After Twain strips Jim of his humanity with the dehumanizing “n-word”, there are moments in which Twain was able to set off a sequence of events that would not have been possible if that word was not implemented, such as the instance in which Huck states “I know he was white on the inside” (Huckleberry Finn). This quote from Huck depicted the fact that he believed that Jim, although he is colored, he thought Jim was”white on the inside”. This statement from Huck might not have been as powerful if the use of the n-word was not implemented and used numerous times. The fact that Huck was able to see through the whitewashing of society towards his perspective on people of color and slaves in general, he was able to realize and see Jim as a equal.
This book proves that not everyone who grew up around racism was cruel, as Huck began to love Jim for who he is, despite the society he grew up in. An example of Huck maturing could come from chapter forty, "I knowed he was white inside, and I reckoned he'd say what he did say - so it was all right, now, and I told Tom I was agoing for a doctor." (Twain 301). This quote clearly shows that Huck is maturing, and seeing past the color of Jim's skin. The book shows us how hard it was to grow up in a racist society and not be racist.
In response to this. Huck says “Here was this nigger which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children - children that belonged to a man I didn’t even know, a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm” (146). Twain is laying on the irony thickly here, as Huck is clearly disgusted by Jim’’s plans to ‘steal’ his own children. Huck has been so brainwashed by society as to believe that Jim’s very own children are ‘someone else’s property’. While this scene still depicts blatant racism on Huck’s part, it is written in such a way that it ridicules the notion that someone’s children can in fact be the property of a stranger, simply because the father is
“I never seen such a nigger.” (Twain, p.89). Huck dehumanizes Jim because of his misunderstanding of a story Huck has told. Huck has tricked Jim and humiliated him. Huck is insensitive; sometimes seeing Jim as a worthy human being, but not continuously.
Huck does not see Jim as a slave anymore he sees Jim as a friend and he treats him like a friend. Huck would of never done this at the begning of his journey or when he found out Jim is a runaway. He evolved his morality, Twain finished the book after the civil war he did not believe in slavery it
Jim takes what she says and looks at it from a different perspective. Jim says to Huck, "en I's wuth eight hund'd dollars." When Jim says this he is teaching Huck two different morals: one that being racist is wrong but two if the world looks down on you, you can turn something bad into good. The rest of the population just thinks that Jim is a piece of property and is only good for money. Jim teaches Huck tat that is not the way to look at things and to not be a part of racial
After lying to Jim and getting caught, Huck thinks on his actions. “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” (86). Huck knows that his actions are wrong but struggles to apologize to Jim because he is conditioned to believe that Jim has no real value. Huck tries to break free from the influence of society and in doing so, he realizes that his actions are not morally acceptable. With no interference from society, Huck is therefore able to humble himself to Jim and treat him in a way that opposes society’s expectations.
Huck has always seen Jim as a slave until they crossed paths while going down the river. The two develop a friendship and Huck starts to care about Jim and his well being. Although Huck views Jim as someone he cares about, he still sees him as a slave as well. “ I would do the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write that nigger’s owner and tell where he was,” ( Document E). Huck is in a continuous battle with his inner self when it comes to his views on Jim.
In the book "The Adventures if Huckleberry Finn", Mark Twain's writing mirrors the society and problems it had in that time. This book promotes seeing African-Americans as people, which is absolutely groundbreaking and unheard-of in the time it was written, right after the Civil War. Throughout the book,, Huck has a complete change in his feelings towards Jim, starting with his highly influenced young mind, only able to view Jim as a slave, all the way to seeing Jim as a father-figure who can protect and provide for him. Although Huck tries to see Jim as a friend and fatherly-figure, society's beliefs don't allow him to see Jim as anything but a slave.
The black man on the back porch is afraid of the rattle snake because it is bad luck, or the innocent little slave is quick to believe everything one tells them at the drop of the hat. These are just some of the many racist stereotypes of the 1840s. A character named Jim is the star African American whom Twain bestoys the mission of being the stereotypical black man to prove a point. He along with his much more pallor companion Huck go on exciting adventures that unfold the events which expose the racist conduct of the time. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain saturates his novel with potent images of acute racism severe enough as to create a satirical mien that exposes the absurdity of prejudice.
In a society clinging to the cushion of political correctness, to be faced with a novel so offensive, so brash, so seemingly racist in the classroom was initially jarring. At first, I was opposed to the concept of having to read the word “nigger” and discuss it as if it was just any antiquated term; it seemed impossible. However, through my reading of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, I began to understand the value of my discomfort. A tenant of Jesuit education, personal growth is necessary for one to grow into an intellectual, whole human being. For one to grow, they must step outside their comfort zone and become uncomfortable.
In this selected passage Huck decides he is not going to send the letter he wrote to Miss Watson with the intention of turning Jim in. Huck initially writes the letter because he is thinking about God and his state of sin, as he believes he is committing a sin by stealing another person’s property. He never sends the letter because he realized how much he trusts Jim and doesn’t see him as his property, but rather as a best friend. Previously he has stayed with Jim because it was easy, but this scene marks the time when he is able to stay by Jim’s side even when he believes it will come at a great personal cost.
Huck Finn is still relevant today in the fact that it has a very important life lesson that everyone should know. On his adventure Huck learned not to follow the rest of society and to do what he thought was right. When Huck decided not to turn Jim in he was so torn about what to do. Of course the answer is obvious for most of us that no he should not turn Jim in however, Huck was raised in a society that pressured him to thinking that he should turn him in. Even while having been raised in this type of racist environment Huck realized he didn’t care what the “sivilized” people thought and he wanted to help Jim.
Huck thinks about Miss Watson and how he is betraying her by helping Jim escape. Huck encounters slave catchers and he is internally whether to tell about Jim but decides not to and says, “They went and I got aboard the raft, feeling bad and low, because I knowed very well I had done wrong, and I see it warn’t no use for me to try to learn to do right; a body that don’t get started right when he’s little ain’t got no show -- when the pinch comes there ain’t nothing to back him up and keep him to his work, and so he gets beat” (Twain 102). Then later in the novel Jim is sold by some con men for $40 which upsets Huck and causes him to realize he cares about Jim and says, “All right, then I’ll GO to hell” (Twain 225). Huck is defying society’s laws by deciding to help captured Jim. Huck is maturing significantly because his perception of Jim has changed.
As a fiction writer, Mark Twain, whose original name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, stands apart as a comic genius. In America, Mark Twain had popularized this new genre through two of his well- known novels. One is 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ' and the other 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn '. Mark Twain 's idea of a boy character is based on the picture of an average American boy. The American boy, by nature, is enterprising and mischievous, not a reserved character like his counterpart in England.