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Theme Of Selflessness In Huckleberry Finn

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Joyce Banda,former president of Malawi, once said “I learned that leadership is about falling in love with the people and the people falling in love with you. It is about serving the people with selflessness, with sacrifice, and with the need to put the common good ahead of personal interests.” A quote that perfectly depicts the heart of many, and how Mark Twain depicts Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Jim,a runaway slave, demonstrates selflessness, loyalty, and morality. Despite all the turn in events his character remains unchanged. First, throughout the book it becomes evident to the reader how selfless Jim is. Jim risks everything he has to save and protect not only the ones he loves but also puts everyone else's needs above his own. In the novel Huck States “He was saying how the first thing he would do when he got to a free state he would go to saving up money and never spend a single cent, and when he got enough he would buy his wife...then they would both work to buy the two children, and if their master wouldn't sell them, they'd get an Ab'litionist to go and steal them.” This quote is evidence of Jim's selflessness because it allows us to see that he risks recapture and torture in order to save his family. He is not only willing to spend so much time away from his family but also risking his life in order to save them. Everything that Jim is going to do for his family, is strictly for their benefit, and not his. Jim also displays selfness when he risks his life to save Tom, …show more content…

Jim not only demonstrates loyalty towards Huck but also extends that loyalty towards Huck’s friends as well. In the novel Jim states,"white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim", and with this quote Jim expresses how he is eternally grateful. Since Huck keeps his promise to Jim, he repays Huck by remaining loyal to him. Jim also shelters Huck from the fact that his father is

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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.

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Jim was with Huck since the beginning and took care of him and cared for him also teaching him lesson on the way. Jim is trying to protect huck from the outside evil of the world. When Jim finds Huck’s dad’s body in the houseboat he would let Huck see the body because he wants huck to be happy “ Come in, Huck, but doan’ look at his face-it’s too ‘gashly’” ( Twain 57). Even though Huck’s dad beat huck all the time Huck still loves his dad.

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Huck now believes that this cannot be the case since he sees Jim having strong familial ties with his own eyes. This example of Jim’s release of the minstrel mask makes Huck gain a higher opinion of him. In chapter 31, with Huck and his letter, he stops to remember that night on the raft when he almost gave Jim away. Jim’s use of his minstrel mask made a lasting impression on Huck because he remembers those words Jim said to him, how grateful he was for Huck to save him, and how he’s his only friend in the

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708 Words | 3 Pages

All along his society and upbringings have told him that slavery is rift and stealing is wrong. Huck begins to love Jim because he taught him how to be a better human being, and they soon become inseparable. Huck finally views him or as a slave but equal to everyone else in

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953 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim acts as a father figure towards Huck Finn and always takes care of him. He protects him, is loyal, and is always forgiving. These are all very important defining qualities of Jim and shapes the role that he plays in Huck’s life. Although Huck has a father, he is always drunk and abusive so there is essentially no role model or parent. Jim fills this role immensely and acts like the father Huck never had, through thick and thin and even when Huck is making fun of him or scaring him.

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1130 Words | 5 Pages

There are moments when Huck appears to value his relationship with Jim by being protective of him, but does this to save himself. Earlier in the novel when beginning their odyssey, Huck forces Jim to “lay down in the canoe and cover up with the quilt, because if he set up, people could tell he was a nigger a good ways off” (48). In this instance, Huck protects Jim’s identity so that anyone passing by will not catch them. However, he is literally putting Jim below him to assert authority. The difference between how the two protect each other is that Jim does it because he truly sees them as a team.

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1266 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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1260 Words | 6 Pages

Jim’s got now.” (Twain, 92), and “Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on’y white genlman dat ever kep’ his promise to ole Jim.” (Twain, 92), it makes Huck stop and think about how much he has already done and how significant he is in Jim’s life. Huck drops the blame and continues to stay quiet about Jim, even though it could cost him and Jim’s life. One could argue Huck’s decision to stay quiet about Jim is not an indication of morality, but is instead is a sense of fear because the townspeople already thinks Huck is dead, and it would only deepen his punishment if he is

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465 Words | 2 Pages

Jim, a runaway slave and one of society’s outcast members in Huckleberry Finn, portrays the admirable characteristic of self-sacrifice. Jim is a father himself and when Huck and Jim are switching shifts for watch on the raft at night, Jim lets Huck sleep through his shift often. This simple act of kindness greatly illustrates the type of self-sacrifice that Twain would want in his ideal person. Huck considers, “I went to sleep, and Jim didn’t call me when it was my turn. He often done that.

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466 Words | 2 Pages

This transition is the result of the extended period of time that the two spend together, which allows Huck to look past the differences that he has been taught to observe for his entire life and view Jim for what he is; a fellow man. By the end of this passage, Huck’s resolve to do right by Jim is so strong that he is willing to suffer eternal damnation rather than betray Jim. Perhaps Huck’s most important statement in this passage is “Alright then, I’ll go to hell”; here he decides he’s willing to go to hell for eternity rather than causing Jim to return to his life as a slave. At first Huck just thought of Jim the property of another person, a good to be bought and sold regardless of any evidence that he was a human being. As they travel together, this viewpoint is gradually weakened by examples of Jim’s humanity, culminating in a model shift that goes against everything Huck has been taught about the societal status of a

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1066 Words | 5 Pages

Jim’s ability to oversee what he was, shows how deep and sophisticated Jim’s character is. Jim’s move to maturity is also signifyingly evident, Jim’s nature of being a man before his time is shown through his way of viewing the war after his involvement in the Great War. “The world when you looked from both sides was quite other than a placid, slow-moving dream, without change of climate or colour and a time and place for all.” (pg. 103). Jim’s character has grown up from his innocence, his has lost his vison of a beautiful world, and has shown that all the beauty of nature has no place in a war.

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884 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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362 Words | 2 Pages

No character in Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is flawless, but Jim clearly shines through as a hero throughout the novel because of his kindness, nobility, and loyalty. Initially just seen as a fool and used as a source for humor, Jim’s character depth develops throughout the book, and his humanity and goodness frequently dominates the story. Through his friendship with Huck we can see his heroic nature, even in small and seemingly insignificant moments. One example of this occurs when Huck describes the shifts that he and Jim would take at night to keep watch: “I went to sleep, and Jim didn’t call me when it was my turn.

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1083 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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993 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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