More handpicked essays just for you.
The relationship between Huck and Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
About huckleberry finn
Symbolism throughout huckleberry finn
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
By the end of the book, he had started to realize that he really did care about Jim. Huck is writing Miss Watson a letter towards the end of the book talking about where Jim is and how she can get him back. After writing the letter, Huck starts to think about the good times he had with Jim and says that “...somehow I couldn’t seem to strike no places for me to harden against him, but only the other kind.”(213). This was the most powerful part in the book for me because after thinking of all the good that Jim has brought him, he tears up the paper and says “All right, then, I’ll go to hell”(214). In Huck’s mind, he had the choice to send the letter and go to heaven or to try to save Jim and go to Hell for doing the wrong thing as far as the widow taught him.
Huck starts to seriously consider turning Jim in. While he does not believe in slavery, he is deeply disturbed by the idea of Jim stealing his children away from their owner. Despite the paternal bond between Jim and his children, Huck does not believe he should have the right to them, since they are owned by someone else. Huck literally states that he thinks lower of Jim for this, saying, “I was sorry to hear Jim say that, it was such a lowering of him,” (Twain). This is ironic, since Huck’s father was given rights to him purely based on blood but he believes Jim should not be allowed custody of his children based purely off of his social standing.
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.
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.
American literature has always been a form of entertainment and education. When slaves were introduced as characters in books, they were always negative, stereotypical characters, but not until 1883 when Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a change made. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book about a southern white boy in the 1800’s that runs away with an escaped slave on the Mississippi River. For years, schools have been debating on if the book should be banned in schools or not, and it is already on a variety of banned lists. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned in schools because it is an anti-slavery novel that teaches students valuable lessons and informs students of the past culture.
He wasn’t used to having a father figure in his life because his actual father was an alcoholic and was abusive. “Would always call me honey, and pet me, and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was,” (Document E). This shows that not only did Huck care about Jim, but Jim also cared about Huck’s well being, too. Having a father figure was very important to Huck because his actual father wasn’t really a father figure to him at all. Since someone actually cared about him and treated him with respect and care, it meant the world to him.
Huck realized how bad Jim felt after he played this prank on him, and even though the time period they are in, Huck still felt bad for doing this to Jim. He vowed never to play a trick like that on him again, which shows that he sees Jim as a friend, and is treating him like a human being, rather than a slave. Another time when Huck demonstrates true friendships is when he did not turn Jim in. While Huck and Jim were traveling down the Mississippi, they ended up needing some more supplies so Huck had to go into town to get some things. While he was in town, he found out that some men were going to go looking for Jim on the island that they were staying on.
He goes from playing a trick on Jim which hurts him physically, to saving his life, and in doing so himself so he doesn’t get in trouble for helping an escaped slave, and then finally he plays another prank on Jim, which almost ruins his friendship with Jim. Through his constant compassion and love for Jim he goes against what convention sees as wrong and apologizes to Jim. However, he does it with a lot of hesitation and embarrassment. This shows that Huck’s compassion for Jim grew but didn’t change his morality and character at all. This is because he had compassion for Jim in the beginning of the novel and all it did was grow but it still didn’t affect the way he felt about his actions he was doing towards Jim.
After Huck finds out that Jim is captive, Huck “set down and cried. [He] couldn’t help it” (210). After returning to the raft and not finding Jim there, Huck is overcome with emotion. The fear of Jim not being around causes Huck to realize how important Jim is to him. The friendship they developed on the river and through their adventure causes Huck to be more concerned for Jim’s safety than society’s need to keep Jim captive.
But Huck also feels like he can not turn Jim in because deep down he knows that Jim’s life will be better not being a slave. This shows that Huck battles between himself whether to follow society’s rules or his own morlas. When Huck chooses to not turn Jim in as a runaway slave, that makes it evident that he matures or so it
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.
Following Jim’s orders, Huck doesn’t even make a move towards the body. This shows a very big step toward maturation because in his old, adventurous ways, he wouldn't have listened to such a request with a dead body sitting right there -- like in a adventure movie or book. It also is the first time he listened to an adult, let alone a black slave in the pre-civil war era. This reveals that Huck isn’t conforming to societal norms and has good morals by listening to someone he has respect for whether he realizes it or
Huck has been burned with the idea that he is to blame for Jim’s escape. Huck ultimately feels guilty because he knows he has not done wrong but he has no reason not to believe what society thinks because he was only taught one way. Huck imagines an alternate scenario, thinking “s’pose [he]’d’ a’ done right and give Jim up, would [he] felt better... No…[he'd] feel bad” (91). Huck is aware that the right decision based on society is to give up Jim.
Naturally, as his bond with Jim cultivates, Huck unknowingly treats him as a human. Through Huck’s sensibility, he states, “It didn’t take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all … I hadn’t no objections, ‘long as it would keep peace in the family; and it warn’t no use to tell Jim, so I didn’t tell him” (Twain 125). Correspondingly, Huck gains a consideration for Jim and his personal feelings, which he expresses nonchalantly through motley aspects of their journey.
The Light of Friendship born on the Mississippi River Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the relationship between Huck and Jim are the main topic of the whole book. They all had their own personality and characteristics. The relationship between Huck and Jim changes as the story goes on. In the very beginning, it was clear that Huck considers Jim as a slave, on the other hand, Huck did not regard Jim as a normal human like himself.
