Jim’s affection for Huck is apparent again later in the novel and is used again by Mark Twain to invalidate white superiority. On their journey to Cairo, when Huck reunites with Jim on the raft after they are separated in the fog, Jim excitedly exclaims, “Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck…It’s too good for true, honey, it’s too good for true. Lemme look at you chile, lemme feel o’ you” (83). Jim’s elated reaction is a sign of his gratitude that Huck is safe, which once again exhibits the connection Jim has with Huck. This connection is made clear by Jim’s use of the words “honey” and “chile”, which indicates that Jim thinks and cares for Huck as he would a son. Clearly, Twain is highlighting that Jim is capable of being a father and caring
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Jim displays his concern for Huck and his safety once more when Jim realizes that Huck tricked him into thinking they were never separated, and he emotionally says, “… my heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’ k’yer no’ mo’ what become er me en de raf’. En when I wake up en fine you back ag’in, all safe en soun’, de tears come…I’s so thankful” (86). According to Charles Nilon in “Freeing the Free Negro,” in Twain’s time, Southerners had no concern for a black man’s feelings, suggesting that they did not even believe a black man was capable of having feelings. However, by revealing the emotional toll Huck’s disappearance had on Jim, Twain proves that black men do, in fact, have feelings. Moreover, Jim’s despair that he lost Huck and gratitude that he later found him shows that Jim not only has feelings, but also that he cares about others, such as Huck. Pap, on the other hand, was presented as selfish in the beginning of the book when he arrives to town only to take Huck’s fortune for …show more content…
Jim’s most notable example of self-sacrifice is when he wants to stay and help Tom recover from his gunshot wound during their escape from the Phelps plantation, and he selflessly declares, “I doan’ budge a step out’n dis place ‘dout a doctor; not if it’s forty year!” (276). Jim’s determination to stay with Tom demonstrates that Jim is more concerned with securing Tom’s safety, even at the expense of regaining his own freedom. This establishes that Jim prioritizes the interests of others over his own and is capable of making sacrifices. Huck reacts to Jim’s selflessness by thinking to himself, “I knowed [Jim] was white inside,” which indicates that Jim is no different from a white man because of his self-sacrifice (276). That Jim possesses a quality thought to be exclusive to whites illustrates how black people are capable of being equal to white people. So, Jim’s sacrifice, and Huck’s reaction to it, allows Twain to object to the idea that blacks are subsidiary to
Jim displays his concern for Huck and his safety once more when Jim realizes that Huck tricked him into thinking they were never separated, and he emotionally says, “… my heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’ k’yer no’ mo’ what become er me en de raf’. En when I wake up en fine you back ag’in, all safe en soun’, de tears come…I’s so thankful” (86). According to Charles Nilon in “Freeing the Free Negro,” in Twain’s time, Southerners had no concern for a black man’s feelings, suggesting that they did not even believe a black man was capable of having feelings. However, by revealing the emotional toll Huck’s disappearance had on Jim, Twain proves that black men do, in fact, have feelings. Moreover, Jim’s despair that he lost Huck and gratitude that he later found him shows that Jim not only has feelings, but also that he cares about others, such as Huck. Pap, on the other hand, was presented as selfish in the beginning of the book when he arrives to town only to take Huck’s fortune for …show more content…
Jim’s most notable example of self-sacrifice is when he wants to stay and help Tom recover from his gunshot wound during their escape from the Phelps plantation, and he selflessly declares, “I doan’ budge a step out’n dis place ‘dout a doctor; not if it’s forty year!” (276). Jim’s determination to stay with Tom demonstrates that Jim is more concerned with securing Tom’s safety, even at the expense of regaining his own freedom. This establishes that Jim prioritizes the interests of others over his own and is capable of making sacrifices. Huck reacts to Jim’s selflessness by thinking to himself, “I knowed [Jim] was white inside,” which indicates that Jim is no different from a white man because of his self-sacrifice (276). That Jim possesses a quality thought to be exclusive to whites illustrates how black people are capable of being equal to white people. So, Jim’s sacrifice, and Huck’s reaction to it, allows Twain to object to the idea that blacks are subsidiary to