Slavery In Huckleberry Finn Research Paper

Throughout the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain clearly shows his opposition to slavery in the post-Civil War south. By using a combination of literary devices, Twain demonstrates how slavery robs people of their humanity. This is shown in the relationship between Huck and Jim as they journey down the Mississippi River. Twain's argument against slavery makes Jim the victim of the inhumanity slavery creates in society. Slavery is not only a practice used, but a mindset used by many white southerners. This mindset is exploited as Twain reveals its devastating impact on human beings. Twain uses the fog, which separates Jim and Huck, as a metaphor to show how Huck and Jim are losing sight of the goal to leave their oppressive societies. The fog scared Jim and made him feel like his

At the end of the novel, Jim's rescue out of slavery becomes over complicated when Tom Sawyer wants to help. Upon finding out Jim's condition, Tom thinks that it is too easy to rescue him which "makes it so rotten difficult to get up a difficult plan." (552). Twain implements humor in this scene by having Tom complain about how simple the escape could be, but instead wants to make it very intricate and even dangerous. In order for it to be worthy of his approval it has to involve complex aspects such as having a moat to get across to reach Jim. Tom does not want the escape to be "infant-schooliest" (554), as the plans Huck proposes. Rather, Tom wants the escape to be like what he has read in fictional stories, full of complexity and adventure. This carelessness for Jim's safety shows how Twain knows how little whites care about African Americans safety and well being. By treating Jim as an object in an elaborate rescue, he becomes robbed of his humanity. Tom even says Jim would not be able to understand the reasoning for such an intricate escape because "Jim's a nigger."