In the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it shows how two complete opposite people can find common ground and become friends. As their journey begins, Huck, a white boy, and Jim, a run away slave, find common ground through being runaways. Huck and Jim develops a true friendship by showing important values such as trust, compassion, and loyalty throughout the book. First of all, true friendship can not be established without trust. At the beginning of page 50, Jim is hesitant to tell Huck why he was on the island. “Well, dey’s reasons.
But you wouldn’t tell on me ef I ‘us to tell you, would you Huck?” . Huck replies with “Blamed if I would, Jim.” This reassures Jim that he could be trusted not to tell. As a result, Jim tells Huck he ran off from Ms. Watson. Huck is shocked. “But mind, you said you wouldn’ tell-you know you said you wouldn’ tell, Huck.” Once again, Huck reassuringly says “Well, I did.
I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it.” This part is especially significant, because they learn to trust each other, despite the racial difference. In addition to trust, compassion is another factor of true friendship. Jim showed true compassion in chapter 15. Huck was in the canoe leading up the river, while Jim was following along in the raft. They get separated and due to a heavy fog, they both lose sense of direction. When Huck finally reunites with Jim, Jim is ecstatic to see that Huck was okay.
The Essay on Miss Watson Huck Jim Nigger
Is This a Racist Novel Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the 1800 s. During this time slavery was socially acceptable. Even in the church it was taught that there was nothing wrong with slavery. Black people were often referred to as niggers. Huck, even though he was a friend of Jim, didnt even think twice about calling a black person a nigger. Huck would say things like Give ...
“Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck? En you ain’ dead-you ain’ drowned-you’s back agin? It’s too good for true, honey, it’s too good for true. Lemme look at you chile, lemme feel o’ you. No, you ain’ dead! you’s back agin, ‘live en soun’, jis de same ole Huck-de same ole Huck, thanks to goodness!” . The reaction that is shown in the quote is that of concern and relief. This shows that Jim genuinely cared for the well being of Huck. Finally, loyalty is an important factor in true friendship.
An example of loyalty was shown by Huck in chapter 16. In chapter 16, Huck comes upon some slave hunters, which wanted to search his raft. Huck pretends to be glad they showed up, and lies saying no one else would help him. As the conversation between the slave hunters and the Huck unfolds, Huck cleverly leads them to believe that his family has small pox. As a result, the slave hunters would not dare to go near the raft. Huck did this act to protect Jim from being discovered.
Afterwards, Huck felt he did wrong that he did not turn Jim in. Ironically, the readers see the loyalty that Huck has for Jim. Furthermore, the readers see it as the right thing to do. Another example is shown at the end of the book. When Huck discovers the king turned in Jim, he debates over writing a letter to Miss Watson telling her about Jim. When the letter is written, he feels as if a heavy weight has been lifted off of his shoulders.
On the other hand, Huck thinks about what they ” ve been through together. “All right, then I’ll go to hell.” Huck tears up the letter, and decides to rescue Jim from slavery. All in all, Huck and Jim showed an example of what true friendship should be like. Huck and Jim were there for one another. They overcame obstacles together and stuck it out till the very end. More importantly, they learned to overcome their differences by having trust, compassion and loyalty for one another..
