Miss Watson Character Analysis

Not too long ago, in the 20th century, Martin Luther King fought to put an end to the belief that was tearing the American nation apart; Rosa Parks fought to put an end to the same belief that denied her basic rights; Nelson Mandela also fought to put an end to the same belief that seemed to be not just limited to America, but other countries as well. And that belief is racism. While racism might seem to have outwardly disappeared from America today, it still remains very much in peoples’ minds, proving that the country is still not free of this destructive idea. In one of America’s most widely read novels, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, readers are exposed to racism’s role in American society in many different ways. But one specific character, Miss Watson’s well-known slave named Jim, is a particularly significant character that provides insight into the world of racism and slavery. While many readers might overlook the importance of Jim’s role in the story due to him just being a slave, it is eventually realized that he is a quite important

Through Twain’s portrayal of Jim and his characteristics in the novel, the author is able to paint a clear picture of how racism and slavery affected American society in the 20th century. Although racism is commonly viewed as an idea limited to the past, it still has not completely left the minds of Americans in the present, as it remains to be the underlying influence in many people’s behaviors and decisions in current times. So despite the extensive efforts taken by prominent leaders in the past to end racism, removing this belief in any form that it lingers in the country today is definitely still a work in progress; the battle is not over