In the novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck, a young white boy, meets a slave, Jim. Huck is taken care of by Miss Watson and Widow Douglas until he is taken by his father. His life with his father is miserable for this he fakes his own death and hides out on a island. Miss Watson’s slave, Jim, runs away to hide out to avoid from being sold South. Together they start their search to freedom down the Mississippi River hoping to find a better life. As they spend time together, Huck and Jim’s relationship grows. Jim becomes Huck’s father figure. But people always seemed to influence Huck’s behaviour toward Jim. Reading the critics articles on the book, it’s clear Huck’s best friend, Tom, influenced Huck’s actions toward Jim. Although Huck gradually became friends with Jim as the novel progresses, by it’s ending Tom Sawyer returns and changes Huck’s mindset once again.
Huck and Tom are best friends and Jim is just the help. Huck and Tom first met Jim in Widow Douglas’s garden but did not fully get to know him until Jackson Island. Jim’s character is introduced to Huck and Tom, when Huck accidently trips on a root outside the kitchen. Tom and Huck attempt to hide from Jim to avoid being seen by him and to plan out a trick for Jim. In the novel, Huck says,
“When we was ten foot off Tom whispered to me, and wanted to tie Jim to the tree for fun. But I said no; he might wake and make a disturbance, and then they’d find out I warn’t in” (Twain 6).
Tom wants to tie Jim up, but Huck only stops it because he doesn’t want to get caught not because he knows its wrong to tie him up. It’s clear Tom has a big influence on Huck’s morals. Huck does not respect Jim. Huck saw Jim as a slave, did not really take the time to get to know Jim as a human while he has Tom by his side influencing every thought that runs through his mind. Huck’s lack of respect for Jim is shown in chapter four, Huck says
“Miss Watson’s n****, Jim, had a hair-ball as big as your fist, which had been took out of the fourth stomach of an ox, and he used to do magic with it. He said there was a spirit inside of it, and it knowed everything” (Twain 17).
Huck was very quick to call Jim, “n*****” downgrading his worth as a human being. Plus the only reason Huck spoke to him that night was because he wanted to know if the hairball was true or not. The hair ball was what got Jim money and what made him feel famous among the other slaves. Jim must have felt a superior among the others. He had the “power” for once. He had people believing that he could talk to the spirits just through a hairball and made profit off these people. In Davis’s critical article, I agree with many of the points made. For example Davis states,
“Jim’s life in the novel is framed by the jokes played upon him—Tom’s joke at the beginning, two by Huck within the story, and the escape plot contrived by Tom at the conclusion” (Davis).
This is true because of the first prank Tom came up with he is built around the pranks played on him. He is given much respect as a character.
Huck and Jim begin to create an unbreakable bond or so it seemed toward the middle of the novel. It’s clear these two built a strong relationship now that they are alone on the run from their past. This bond is shown the most in chapter nine and eleven. They both show the characteristics of a true friend. In chapter nine, Jim tries to protect Huck’s feelings in this line,
“It’s a dead man. Yes, indeedy; naked, too. He’s ben shot in de back. I reck’n he’s ben dead two er three days. Come in, Huck, but doan’ look at his face—it’s too gashly”(Twain 52).
Jim does this because he recognizes his face and knows it’s Huck’s father. Jim knew Huck would have been destroyed seeing his own dad dead even if he was his abuser. Jim shows he really does care for Huck and wants to protect him. Then there is Huck who goes above and beyond to protect Jim from the white folks. In chapter eleven Huck screams out to Jim,
“Git up and hump yourself, Jim! There ain’t a minute to lose. They’re after us!” (Twain 64).
This is when Judith Loftus is suspicious of Huck when he is pretending to be a girl named Sarah Williams. Huck screaming out to Jim shows they are friends because it shows he cares for him and wants no harm to come to him. In chapter eleven, when Huck attempts to play the prank on Jim in the raft, it is sought out to be the main steps of the building of their friendship. In Robert Evan’s article, he believes Huck has matured since the beginning of the book and does genuinely care for Jim. Evans says this in the following quote:
This is a particularly significant passage not only because it describes one of the earliest and most important moments in the evolving and deepening friendship between Huck and Jim but also because it depicts a crucial stage in Huck’s own moral maturation.Huck’s attempt to trick Jim (an attempt that makes him resemble, if only briefly, the all-too-clever and selfishly manipulative Tom Sawyer) will ironically result in a stronger bond between the boy and the slave. Huck’s misguided attempt to humiliate Jim eventually leads Huck to feel and express real humility of his own; his effort to make a fool of Jim paradoxically gives Jim a chance to display his own innate dignity and sense of self-worth. (Evans)
This is important because in the novel Huck says:
“It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n*****—but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d a knowed it would make him feel that way” (Twain 89).
Huck shows he has matured by apologizing to Jim, putting aside the color of their skin. He finally shows Jim the respect he deserves.
The respect seems to all get lost once, old pal, Tom returns. In Konnikova’s critical essay, her thoughts on the reappearance of the character are clear. Konnikova says:
“As Leo Marx put it in a 1953 essay, when Tom enters the picture, Huck falls almost completely under his sway once more, and we are asked to believe that the boy who felt pity for the rogues is now capable of making Jim’s capture the occasion for a game. He becomes Tom’s helpless accomplice, submissive and gullible. And to Marx, this regressive transformation is as unforgivable as it is unbelievable” (Konnikova).
Tom has a tight grip on the way Huck behaves. For example when Jim and Huck get separated on rafts, Huck could care less about Jim. In chapter fifteen Huck says ,“reckoned Jim had fetched up on a snag, maybe, and it was all up with him. I was good and tired, so I laid down in the canoe and said I wouldn’t bother no more” (Twain 86). Huck basically gave up on his friendship with Jim. He did not want to help him anymore on his search for freedom. Also when Tom returns he is quick to notice Jim tagged along with Huck. Tom has a lot to say about Jim surprise. He says:
“I wonder if Uncle Silas is going to hang this n*****. If I was to catch a n***** that was ungrateful enough to run away, I wouldn’t give him up, I’d hang him.” (Twain 239).
Tom felt a big need to put his input in about Jim.
Tom returning had a major impact on the way Huck mistreats Jim. Once your around people your use to and comfortable around, it makes sense Huck would go back to his ways. Even before Tom returns, Huck is battling his racists beliefs and Tom returning causes him to completely break. In the critical article Maria Konnikova felt as if threw away the friendship once Tom returned. Konnikova states:
“How could Huck, after building a friendship with Jim for the duration of the book, after deepening his connection and realizing how much more there is to the man than the category “slave,” just turn around and forget him like that? How can he fall back so easily into old habits, as if he hadn’t grown at all from start to finish? It doesn’t make sense” (Konnikova).
I agree with this how could Huck throw away his friendship with his “caretaker” just because Tom returns. Huck was willing to throw it all away one, his old pal returns. But I do understand Huck is only thirteen, and the influence of his friends around him, is huge. He might feel as if Tom will stop being friends with him, if he defends Jim instead of him.
Tom is not an influence he needs in his life, but accepts him. Huck allows him to change his behavior toward African Americans, specifically his close friend, Jim. A relationship was built between the two which Tom returned just to destroy. Mark Twain spent time creating this incredible bond between the two but threw it away right at the end. Huck built a strong friendship with Jim, but threw it all away when Tom returns and Huck goes back to his ways.