Jim's Relationship In Huckleberry Finn

Lucas Venette

Miss Glass

English III Honors

February 28, 2018

Jim: More Than a Slave Everyone wants a father figure, but the person who takes on the role of being a father is not always who is expected. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim, an African American slave, is a father figure to Huck, a young white boy. Jim acts as a father by protecting Huck from dangers and risks during their journey. Jim is also a father to Huck by teaching him lessons about right and wrong. Lastly, Jim is comparable to a father through the love that he expresses toward Huck. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain expresses how Jim is more of a father to Huck than Pap through Jim’s protection, lessons, and love. First, Jim is seen as a father

Jim teaches Huck lessons about right and wrong, especially about race. One example of how Jim teaches Huck a lesson is when Huck plays a trick on Jim and Jim becomes upset. Huck says, "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n*****; but I done it...I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd 'a' knowed it would make him feel that way" (Twain 97). This quotation shows how Jim teaches an important lesson to Huck. Jim teaches Huck how it is wrong to trick people, but he also helps Huck learn how it is wrong to think negatively of other people simply because of their race. Huck does not think that Jim has the same feelings as a white individual, but Jim being upset causes Huck to learn that an African American does not enjoy being fooled, just like a white person. Through this quotation, it is also seen that Huck believes that he previously was superior to Jim. Huck says that he ‘humbles’ himself to Jim as if Jim is below him. Huck, through Jim's reaction, learns how someone's race does not determine who they are as a person and also that race does not make someone superior or inferior to someone else. Another example of how Jim teaches Huck a lesson is when Huck sees Jim grieving over missing his family. In the story, Huck says, "He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick;...and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n" (Twain 166). In this quotation, Huck learns another important lesson concerning race. Huck previously believes that Jim, as well as other African Americans, do not have sentimental feelings like white folks do. Huck believes that Jim is like an animal who only cares about themselves and how they can survive. However, Jim's mourning helps Huck to learn that Jim has the feeling of love, and that Jim cares