'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' Mark Twain
In the Mark Twain's historical fiction, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn', Huck fakes his murder to escape the drunken beating of his abusive father. His sanctuary was the mighty Mississippi, which he used to escape the torture he has lived with for years. Huck's adventure takes a strange turn when he joins forces with Jim a runaway. But one thing different about Jim is he's a runaway slave. The penalty for helping a runaway slave was death. Jim was more of father figure to Huck than Huck's own father. Huck does not fully respect Jim because he still used racist terms when he refers to Jim. The story is fictional but has many historical references to slavery in the pre Civil War South.
One historical reference in this story is the helping of runway slaves that would be punished by death. The emancipation proclamation would not happen for another ten years. If a runaway slave was caught he could be killed without a trial. So for a white southern boy to help a black slave escape was very unusual. Some people would consider Huck Finn is a racist because he called Jim derogatory names and doesn't respect him as person. The next historical reference in Huck Finn is the patrols of men looking for runaway slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required slaves to be returned under law to the slave owners. Slaves, not even under law, were equal to white people of that time. As Huck and Jim were traveling down the river on a dark night they saw torches. When they reached the torches, they found out it was patrollers looking for runaway slaves. The men asked Huck if he had anybody else on his boat. Huck said yes it was his sick dad. The patrollers asked to see the man up close. Huck said finally, somebody is willing to help us. Everybody keeps running away from us when we ask for help. The men asked what was the matter with his dad?...