Racism in The Adventures of Huck Finn
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain illustrates the complex friendship between Huck, Jim and Tom, as the progress through a series of adventures which reveal the content of their character. Huck act racist, unintentionally; it initially causes him not to value Jim’s feelings. Jim is a victim of racism; he is often being ridiculed and is a slave. Tom does not recognize the common humanity if slaves and free men. Throughout the story, Mark Twain exemplifies both the intentional and unintentional aspects of racism in Jim, Huck and Tom. The three characters each have their own attitude but some progress as others stay the same.
In the novel, Huck wants to rescue Jims children, but feels bad for he is pretty much backstabbing a fellow white-man in the back; Huck is being taught that slaves do not have families and they all belong to someone. Huck says, referring to Jim, “Thinks I, this is what comes of my not thinking. Here was this was this nigger, which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children-children that belonged to a man I didn’t even know; a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm” (97). Huck completely disregards the fact that the children are Jim’s; rather, he believes they belong to the slave owner. This statement shows Huck’s ignorance and disrespect towards black slaves. Throughout the course of the novel Huck starts to realize how wonderful of a person Jim was. As he states, “He was a mighty good nigger, Jim was” (171). His feelings are beginning to shift and he is coming to realize that Jim is a nice person, not just a slave with no feelings or emotions. Finally, towards the end of the novel Huck knows that he and Jim are alike in many ways. Huck says, “I knowed he was white inside.” He realizes that he and Jim are alike in many ways, despite the color of their skin; his views of slaves have completely developed from a naïve perspective to...