Throughout Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the runaway slave, Jim, serves as a reliable companion to Huckleberry along their entire journey from St. Petersburg to the ‘Deep South’. Along the way, there are many incidents where Jim performs necessary tasks for Huckleberry that ensures their survival. Jim plays an important role in serving as a father figure to Huckleberry Finn, and protects him down their journey on the Mississippi river.
Jim shields Huckleberry Finn from the death of his father and the elements of nature. In search of supplies, Huck and Jim board a “frame house” that was floating down the river in chapter 9. Inside, they both see the silhouette of a man and call out to him. Jim investigates and discovers the man is Huck’s father, he tells Huck, “doan’ look at his face” and then Jim “throwed some old rags over him” (161). Jim does not know the extent of Pap’s abuses to Huck, and decides to keep Huck from seeing something a kid should never witness. From this point, Jim takes the role of Huck’s father figure, and in chapter 12 constructs a wigwam for both of them “to get under in blazing weather and rainy, and to keep the things dry” (169). Because Jim now knows Huck has no family left and cannot make the journey alone, he does what he can to help and protect Huck along their journey.
Huckleberry’s morals and decisions are influenced and improved by Jim
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Huck is separated from Jim in chapter 15, and when they are reunited Jim expresses his emotions and calls Huck trash, “my heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’… de tears come en…” (183). Huck is emotionally stirred by that and feels mean himself, which is a turning point of significance in the novel. After a few minutes, Huck apologizes to Jim. Huck’s apology puts him in an equal if not inferior position to Jim, and he acknowledges Jim has helped him more than he thanks him