Opposites Attract
"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot - By Order of the Author," (Twain 1) reads the "Notice" before The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. Twain claims that he wrote the entire novel purely as an adventure story, and had no intention of creating a deeper statement about the human condition. On the contrary, Twain creates an insight into humanity that the reader hardly expects from the author's impractical notice. He does this by using the two main characters in the novel, Huck Finn, an uneducated boy running away from civilization and Jim, the runaway slave. As these two misfits float down the Mississippi River on a raft, Twain uses the character of Jim and his interactions with others to defy the white perception of the Negro and to ultimately demonstrate his place in American society. Twain does this by showing how Jim does not form to the mold of the stereotypical slave, has real emotions just like anyone else and is an example of the Negro's social standing at that time. In the beginning of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain introduces Jim by describing the
Along with defying the social stereotype of the happy-go-lucky, ignorant Negro, Jim also serves as an example for the free Negro's social standing in 1884, the year of the book's publication. After the Civil War, blacks were technically free men, but were rarely granted their deserved rights and privileges equal to those held by the free white man. Very often, Huck and the river raft's other passengers, the duke and the king, travel onshore, leaving Jim alone on the raft. In order to protect him against slave traders who might come upon him, the duke paints his face blue and dresses him up in absurd costumes, leaving a sign that reads, "Sick Arab- But harmless when not out of his head," (Twain 156). Huck believes this disguise is meant to keep the people from recognizing Jim's race, but when the disguise is put to the test, the people who come upon Jim simply see that he is a "strange nigger dressed so and so," (Twain 211). This incident can be compared to what happened to many free blacks during their migration northward, trying to find jobs and prosperity. Many employers would not give them jobs, simply because of their race. They dressed like white men, acted like white men, but were not granted the privileges of white men. Likewise, Jim tries to disguise himself as an Arab, but still is not treated as an Arab. Twain also uses the character Throughout the rest of the novel, Twain makes every effort to eliminate this misconception by showing Jim's kindness, sensitivity and tenderness toward people. The stereotype is almost immediately contradicted when Jim runs away, because the stereotypical Negro would not have done this. The stereotypical slave is perceived as a "servant," who wouldn't want to leave his home. After this point, Twain continues to unveil Jim's true colors throughout the story. The most obvious way in which Twain accomplishes this unveiling is through Jim's feelings about his family. One day, as Huck woke up to hear Jim "moaning and mourning to himself...[Huck] knowed what it was about. He was thinking about his wife and his children...and...he cared just as much for his people as white folk does for their'n," (Twain 155). The idea of slaves loving other people presented a very foreign idea to most whites. The
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2133
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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