Race Relations In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

During the time period that Mark Twain wrote his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn black Americans were at a pivotal point in history. They were no longer owned as slaves, and, yet, they had not quite transitioned into the ranks of upstanding society. Mark Twain uses his novel to pull the reader’s attention away from the label of “slave” and towards the actuality that Jim, the runaway slave, is a human being, who in most cases proved to be more upstanding than anyone else in the novel. Charles W Chesnutt’s writings were published at later dates than Twain’s, yet still touched on some of the same topics and included some of the same topics throughout. Both authors made examples out of black men who would otherwise have been statistical …show more content…
Tuire Valkeakari’s article, “Huck, Twain, and the Freedman’s Shackles: Struggling with Huckleberry Finn Today” (2006), writes that Jim protects Huck during several different events and that Jim listens to Huck and takes him seriously. The author compiles his ideas in this essay for the purpose of examining the racial dynamics of the novel. Viewing Huck and Jim’s relationship as that of a father and son gives the novel a new depth and lets the audience connect with Jim even further. When the audience sees Jim looking out for Huck they start to respect him. He is no longer looked at as a tool to be used for gain, as he would be on a plantation, but a real human being with emotions that lead and guide him through his travels with Huck. Jim “demonstrates genuine human kindness and unselfish generosity” (Valkeakari 6) throughout the novel, especially towards Huck. He chaperones Huck throughout the novel while on the raft, taking extra guard shifts so that Huck can get more sleep and also attempting to teach Huck his own view of what is right and wrong. Charles W. Chesnutt also has an adult black male playing somewhat of a father figure when Uncle Julius advises the white couple contemplating buying the land that he lives on. Uncle Julius seems wizened sitting in the shade of a tree in the yard, so much so that the white couple want to hear what his opinion, much like a young couple would seek out the advice of a father. This image makes the audience feel that Uncle Julius must have some fatherly love for the young couple to take time out of his day to entertain them. In this way Chesnutt starts his short story out by letting his audience connect with the black male slave and, portraying him as fatherly figure, denounces the idea that slaves were not