Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is really a well recognized masterpiece of classical literature – it tells a story of the young boy, who travels over a raft down the Mississippi river together with a slave, who escaped from his owner. Their relations are fascinating, unusual, sometimes comic and quite profound emotionally. Even if to take into account Huckleberry Finn being the primary hero, the role of Jim’s hero ought to not be underestimated. In fact this would be difficult to imagine the whole story without “Miss Watson’s large nigger, referred to as Jim…”.
Jim is also easily called the father of Huck, as he took care with the boy both physically and emotionally and could be the only illustration to your young boy to follow.
From the very beginning the black companion of Huck seems to become as well effortless and obsessed with superstitious ideas; later however, readers meet a kind hearted and intelligent man inside the person of Jim, who possesses a profound understanding from the natural world close to him and deep feeling of responsibility for your boy. Almost certainly if he weren’t separated from his beloved family, he would in no way take a risk to run away from Miss Watson. Thus he can't be regarded either a criminal or a vagabond.
Jim became a extremely close and caring friend for Huck, he cooked for him, helped to produce the boy comfortable during the trip, was in no way importunate in spite of his bigger life experience. One of the major drawbacks that Jim’s hero has according to some critics, is his passive attitude to things around; this can be however very easily mentioned by the true case Jim finds himself in – his life depends as well much on other characters on the novel, and a teenager boy, like for example in the situation with the letter, which Huck was going to send to Miss Watson. Nonetheless this can be quite natural, that Jim is a lot concerned on the outcomes of his deeds and even experiences fear sometimes. This however never changed his attitude to his young friend and he usually remained loyal and caring to the him. The readers believe sympathy with Jim, as in presentation of other characters of the novel the real feelings and concerns of Jim are of minor importance and should hardly be taken into consideration, since his life is “lesser and trivial”, nonetheless he by no means lost his sure world view and usually remained type to everybody, irrespectively of the way they treated him (Chadwick-Joshua, 23). These qualities that Jim possessed made him even much more heroic and worthy man.
Readers are also in a position to see the clear contrast between the “comfort”, provided by Jim for ones boy, who catches fish and builds “a snug wigwam [on the raft] to acquire under in blazing weather and rainy” (Twain, 48) towards cabin of Huck’s father – “he has to stop up the holes to keep the wind from blowing through the chinks and putting the candle out” (Twain, 18-19).
The fact, that Jim is only a black slave makes it difficult for Jim to quite consume care from the boy and to protect him not merely from adverse weather, but also from other folks like Pap, but Jim did his best: he tells lies for the King and Duke and prepares the raft for return escape towards the river.
Huck, who was not used to hearing nice words, who was abused by his unique father and scolded by Miss Watson, soon also learns to enjoy the attitude of Jim, who “would usually call [him] honey, and pet [him]” (161). Also from Jim Huck learns the moral rules, which needs to be followed in several life situations. The corruption and brutality in the surrounding globe have been continually contrasted to Jim’s views, attitudes, behavior – “”through Jim’s sensitivity [that] the entire Wilks episode is thrown into much more precise focus” (Cox, 65).
Jim has also impact upon the moral decisions of Huck –“Jim’s function… has been to test… Huck’s growing moral strength and mature independence” (Chadwick-Joshua, 39). Jim turned out to become the very first individual during the whole world, who spoke openly within the true meaning of loyalty, friendship, love and responsibility from the boy. When Huck apologized to Jim this was also the moment of complete acceptance of the moral views, advocated by the black slave.
Friendship and communication with Jim were the principal forces for development of Huck’s moral views and his moral growth. “When Huck remembers their friendship, and couldn’t appear to strike no places to harden me [Huck] against him, but only the other kind, he makes the choice to “go to hell” (Cox, 69). It took time before Huck realized, that Jim was also a personality, not depending on a color of his skin; he became aware with the fact, that humanity of someone can not be diminished either by color from the skin or by some other factor, important is only what is inside a man’s soul, Huck stated “I knowed he was white inside”, meaning, that Jim was a human as well other white people, but with a deeper emotional and spiritual world. Huck also understands, how the color from the skin cannot adjust the inside the globe of the person, he learned, that Jim “cared just as significantly for his people as white individuals does for their’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so” (Twain, 83).
“Jim represents slavery the major theme with the novel, is forgiving, and kind, even so this makes him a heroic character” (Cox, 72).At the same time the role with the father is perfectly played by Jim, who was in a position to consume the responsibility of psychical, emotional and spiritual development on the boy, which makes him incredibly crucial hero of the story, and not a effortless illustration of an oppressed and suffering black slave. The character of Jim, created by the author doesn’t allow the novel to belong to just a piece of adventure fiction; unusually and subtly the author was in a position to discuss quite a few moral problems, not merely concentrating over a difficulty of slavery, but generating a important novel about humanity.
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