Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is an astucious and vibrant American novel that cleverly uses humor to scathe a society that among other things, viewed one race of people as inferior to another. Through this veil of satire and conscious condemnation author Mark Twain(Samuel Clemens) establishes the most noble, courageous, moral and intelligent character in the book, In the form of Jim, the runaway slave. The story is littered with plenty of other characters that embody several of these characteristics but none do it so thoroughly, daringly and to the full extent of their respective definitions as Jim does. To understand why this is so and why Twain chose to make Jim the character he is, one needs to understand the text of the novel and Twain himself to grasp the reasoning for penning this character the way he did.

Mark Twain came into the world with Halley’s comet in 1835 and left the world with it in 1910. In between those years he became a foremost figure in American culture and America’s first great literary figure to reach and captivate a world-wide audience. Born in Florida, Missouri Mark Twain grew up in an environment where slavery was not only tolerated but lauded and held as righteous. Twain once wrote about his childhood days and his youthful view of slavery in his autobiography: “In my schoolboy days I had no aversion to slavery. I was not aware that there was anything wrong about it. No one arraigned it in my hearing; the local papers said nothing against it; the local pulpit taught us that God approved it, that it was a holy thing, and the doubter need only look in the Bible if he wished to settle his mind вЂ" and then the texts were read aloud to us to make the matter sure. (PBS, 3)”

His clinging to the societal norm of accepting slavery persisted in his youth for only a short time. In his autobiography, Twain recalls one of the first moments that view changed: “I vividly remember seeing a dozen black men and women chained to one another, once, and lying in a group on the pavement, awaiting shipment to the Southern slave market. Those were the saddest faces I have ever seen. (PBS, 10)” The emotion on their faces seemed to humanize them to Mark Twain, for the first time in his life he viewed them as equals (PBS, 11). From that point onward he struggled with and chastised those that condoned slavery, in any form and through any rationalization. From there on there are countless tales and stories of Twain exemplifying and brandishing the intelligence, humanity and strong will he felt encompassed many African Americans that he met(). In a post-Civil War sketch "A True Story," “Twain wrenchingly evoked the pain of an ex-slave as she recalls being separated from her young son on the auction block, and her joy at discovering him in a black regiment at war's end” (Salwen).

During his young adult years he enlisted in the army to fight for the confederacy, however he threw down his arms in the beginning weeks and headed out west(PBS, 14). He spent time with his brother, who was gearing up to work for the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Twain made his way to Nevada and San Francisco, where he took on the role of journalist and spoke out against the Civil War and slavery.

After the abolition of slavery and after the war, Mark Twain still saw an American society that carried with it a strong kindling of racism (PBS, 16). His articles and letters of the time reflect an unease and contempt for parts of society that viewed a group of people as not human (PBS, 12).

The most important piece of information to understand about Twain’s mental demeanor and motivations for creating Jim the way he penned him is found in this quote: “All the Negroes were friends of ours, and with those of our own age we were in effect comrades. I say in effect, using the phrase as a modification. We were comrades and yet not comrades; color and condition interposed a subtle line which both parties were conscious of and which rendered complete fusion impossible. We had a faithful and affectionate good friend, ally and adviser in “Uncle Dan”, a middle-aged slave whose head was the best one in the negro quarter, whose sympathies were wide and warm and whose heart was honest and simple and knew no guile...I have not seen him for more than half a century and yet spiritually I have had his welcome company a good part of that time and have staged him in books under his own name and as “Jim”, and carted him all aroundвЂ"to Hannibal, down the Mississippi on a raft and even across the Desert of Sahara in a balloonвЂ"and he has endured it all with the friendliness and loyalty which were his birthright.(PBS Twain 3)” The quote and subsequent stories about the “real” Jim show Twain’s affection and admiration for this man. He saw him as wise beyond his years and truly a friend. A friend whom when his company was absent was a surely missed companion.

These critical pieces show Twain as a man who had a keen and caring sense for the humanity of African Americans. Mark Twain was a man who had very strong feelings about the injustice and racism perpetrated on to them. These gave great cause for Twain to write a story framing Jim as an intelligent, noble and courageous person. As it was how he himself, so often viewed African Americans.

One of the common criticisms of Jim has been his stereotypical behavior. That Jim carried almost Minstrel like characteristics (Gregory). In contrast it can been seen to shows the impressive ability for Mark Twain to create a character that can appeal to the layman while allowing the deeper reader to still retain an even greater understanding of the character. Minstrel shows were the main seat of attraction for the average white person to see something involving African Americans (even though it was white people in black face). As is often noted, Twain recognized there wide appeal and attended several himself (PBS, 4). The similarities between the shows and Jim are uncanny (superstitious, supposed lack of intelligence, ignorant, strong dialect) but as the novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” shows, he uses it as an introduction, and the novel gradually shows a much more rounded character. It’s a smart tactic to use the familiarity to get the reader to indulge further and slowly peel off that stereotype to hammer your message.

Knowing Twains background for this character and where he was coming from with the characteristics drawn from the real man, its easier to understand the true purpose and strength of Jim.

Jim’s courage and nobility is