ipl-logo

Slavery And Racism In Huckleberry Finn

882 Words4 Pages

Slavery and Racism
Whether the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is admired or not, it has altered the psyche, or the ego, of American culture. The blatant racism and slavery accentuate the social norms of Twain’s time. Although it is one of the most taught novels, it is the hardest learned. Many readers miss what the book is really about and what Twain is really trying to say; it 's about nothing less than freedom and the quest for freedom. In Twain’s novel, there is no worse crime than helping slave, yet Huck Finn goes against social norms and rejects all he has learned through “civilization” by doing everything in his power to protect a slave.
This novel takes place in the 1840’s, when racial tensions were on the rise. …show more content…

The central conflict of the novel concerns slavery; should Huck free Jim and then be condemned to hell? Despite having numerous opportunities to turn Jim in, as he is a runaway slave, Huck never betrays him. Huck always sides with his emotion. On page 212, Huck debates whether to send a letter that he wrote to Miss Watson and let her know about Jim. If he did, she would get angry with Jim, and be disgusted with his rascality and ungratefulness for leaving her; she would sell him. Finally Huck makes the remark, “all right then, I’ll go to hell” and rips the letter up. Additionally, Jim has numerous chances to leave Huck too, but he never does. Jim’s freedom is not worth the price of Huck’s life, and this reminds the reader that Jim would risk his life to aid Huck. Huck realizes that he is Jim’s only friend in the world. This proves that Huck does not have the heart to betray a friend, black or …show more content…

Even though Huck and Jim are friends, Huck does not hide his obvious prejudice against blacks. Because blacks are uneducated, Huck sees them as stupid and stubborn. When Jim disagrees with Huck and refuses to listen to his explanations, Huck concludes “you can 't learn a nigger to argue.” (107.) Undeniably, Jim’s actions are a result of his inability to distance himself from society’s conditions. Due to this, Jim accepts the fact that whites are superior to blacks and knows Huck is far smarter than he is. This is a result of the fact that he has been permeated by social norms and legal laws to put another race above his own, no matter the consequences.
Since the first publication of this novel, the perspective on slavery and ideas of racism have been hotly debated. Twain was passionately anti-slavery. He uses Jim throughout the novel to show the humanity in slaves. Although many characters throughout the novel are pro-slavery, they are portrayed as delinquents. However, Huck and Jim never talk about slavery directly with each other, even though it is portrayed through Jim. Twain encourages the reader to feel empathy for Jim through their journey downriver and outrage at society for enslaving him and threatening his

Show More
Related
1023 Words | 5 Pages

Had Huck been a white extremist, he may have utilized the chance to kill Jim. However, the good-natured protagonist does not do so, and instead shows to the reader his playful personality when he jokes around with Jim as a friend. At first, Huck’s prank on Jim may seem like an act of implicit racism or discrimination, but his words appear to be genuinely cheerful and light-spirited. Twain uses this example to further Huck and Jim’s whimsical friendship that develops throughout the novel.

Read More
933 Words | 4 Pages

Huck lives in a time and place where African-Americans are legally not human, so that influences Huck's brain, causing him to see Jim as a slave. For example, when Jim and Huck become separated in the fog, Huck plays a rude trick. He says to Jim that they were never lost and there was no fog. Jim gives a whole speech to Huck, explaining how Huck made him feel like trash. Huck believing that Jim wasn't smart enough to figure the lie out, as well as lying to him at all, shows that Huck feels as though he is above Jim intellectually.

Read More
935 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
979 Words | 4 Pages

Here, Huck clings to his own understanding of what is right, instead of accepting what others believe to be true. This is especially evident when he realizes, “But somehow I couldn’t seem to strike no places to harden me against him…” (Twain 215). Despite what he has been taught, Huck knows that Jim is a good person, and is just as human as a white person.

Read More
917 Words | 4 Pages

We also see that Huck thinks that Jim can not learn anything, use reason and can’t make an argument. We see this when Huck tells himself, “it warn’t no use wasting words- - you can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit” ( Pg. 60) . We see this start to change when Huck learns what time of person Jim is and why he wants to be

Read More
1119 Words | 5 Pages

During the 1800s, Jim is a character who would commonly be thought of as dumb, but was actually characterized with higher levels of intelligence than many of the whites, such as the king and dauphin. Huck, who is raised with the notion that blacks aren’t as smart, comments that Jim “had an uncommon level head for a nigger.” (Twain 85) These snarky, racist comments portray how African Americans were negatively viewed in Twain’s time period. When Huck and Jim had the discussion on the Frenchman, Jim’s reasoning shows his wisdom.

Read More
1999 Words | 8 Pages

Jim is locked up, forced to hide his face in the daytime, and laughed at. Twain was forced to display Jim’s treatment this way to keep the book sincere, despite the fact that it may not be the way Twain personally felt. However, we see that Huck does not treat Jim as most whites do: Huck does not see Jim as a slave; disposable and nameless, but as a friend, with a unique personality. This leads to Huck’s inability to turn Jim in, and Huck’s rejection of societial norms that tell him that blacks are inferior. Huck’s utter rejection of societal norms is evident in the quote “all right, then I’ll go to hell,” (283).

Read More
1266 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
1603 Words | 7 Pages

In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim bond closely to one another, regardless of the fact that they belong to different ethnic groups. Huck, a coming-of-age teenage boy, lives in the Southern antebellum society which favors slavery. At the beginning of the book, Twain claims that “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; and persons attempting to find a plot will be shot” (Twain 2). Ironically, through his experiences with Jim, the uncivilized Huck gradually establishes his own moral beliefs, although sometimes struggling against the influence of society.

Read More
1724 Words | 7 Pages

Essay The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a story about a young boy who is trying to find who he is during the civil war. In this novel by Mark Twain it speaks about this young boy, named Huck, and how his original morals are beginning to change while he helps free his friend Jim, who is a slave. Though People have argued that this book uses many racial slurs that demoralize the African American race. Though there is solid reasoning why those are not Mark Twain's true intentions.

Read More
440 Words | 2 Pages

Twain does his best to deal with the conflict between society and the individual. Huck does not want to abide by society’s laws and does not want to conform in Mark Twain’s, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck is forced to be civilized in the beginning, so he leaves society for freedom and lives by his own rules but even that does not make Huck’s life easy. Huck has trouble obeying society’s rules from the start of the book. The Widow Douglas takes Huck in to try to sivilize him says Huck in the quote, “The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me”(Twain 2).

Read More
1403 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
884 Words | 4 Pages

Mark Twain emphasizes the theme that a person's morals are more powerful than the corrupt influence of society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Based on how Huck Finn views the world and forms his opinions, he does not know the difference between right and wrong. In the novel, Huck escapes civilized society. He encounters a runaway slave, Jim, and together they travel hopes of freedom. But along the way, Huck and Jim come across troubles that have Huck questioning his motives.

Read More
1083 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the reader gauges morality through the misadventures of Huck and Jim. Notably, Huck morally matures as his perspective on society evolves into a spectrum of right and wrong. Though he is still a child, his growth yields the previous notions of immaturity and innocence. Likewise, Mark Twain emphasizes compelling matters and issues in society, such as religion, racism, and greed. During the span of Huck’s journey, he evolves morally and ethically through his critique of societal normalities.

Read More
1124 Words | 5 Pages

The adventure of Huckleberry Finn is a novel set before the Civil war, when slavery was legal and seen as the social norm, but written during post civil war. This novel demonstrates all the aspects or traditional America, as far from what it is today. Mark twain illustrates a lifetime were slavery and racism were seen as a natural part of life. Through incidents, comments by the characters and statements by the narrator 's Twain illustrates a satirical atmosphere on slavery and racism.

Read More

More about Slavery And Racism In Huckleberry Finn

Related Topics

Open Document