Jim (Huckleberry Finn)
Jim is one of two major fictional characters in the classic novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The book chronicles the journey of Jim and Huckleberry "Huck" Finn down the Mississippi River in the antebellum Southern United States. Jim is an adult African American who has escaped from slavery and is trying to reach freedom. Huckleberry Finn, a 11-year-old Caucasian male, has been taught that slavery is natural and that abolitionism is wicked; nevertheless, after befriending Jim, he decides to help Jim escape.
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[edit] Character inspiration
Jim may have been modeled after one or more slaves[citation needed], or on the "shrewd, wise, polite, always good-natured ..."[1] formerly enslaved[2] African-American George Griffin, whom Twain employed as a butler, starting around 1879, and treated as a confidant.[1][3]
Mark Twain's parents owned several slaves, who he grew up around, listening to their stories and spirituals. His uncle also owned many slaves.
[edit] Fictional biography
Jim's spoken language is written in his native dialect and has enticed a number of academic studies.[4][5] As an example of such dialect, during part of the story Jim was talking to Huck about his family and more specifically about his daughter and how he found out she was deaf. He found out she was deaf because he said he told her to, "Shet de do!" (Shut the door!) When he said this she just looked up at him and smiled, then he shouted, "I lay I make you mine" (I swear I'll make you mind [me]) and then he struck her across the face.
Jim is simple and trusting, even gullible. But Jim’s simple nature belies a common sense that helps him choose the right path for Huck and him to follow. Jim does not recognize the duke and the king as frauds. Jim becomes an authority figure in contrast to Huck's abusive father, who can be appreciated for his wisdom and intelligence. Jim realizes he cannot stop the con men from controlling the raft, but tells Huck:
"I doan’ hanker for no mo’ un um, Huck. Dese is all I kin stan’." (I don't hanker for [that is, desire] any more of them, Huck. This is all I can stand.)
Jim is sold by the Duke for $40 to Silas Phelps, Tom Sawyer's uncle. Once Huck discovers this, he tries to save Jim. When Tom shows up, he invents an elaborate plan to set Jim free, mostly based on the adventure books that he has read. When the night finally arrives for the escape, Tom is shot by the men hunting for Jim. Although Jim could have chosen to leave Tom and gain his freedom, he stays by Tom’s side and is recaptured. After this, Tom lets everyone know that Jim has been free the whole time. Miss Watson had died two months ago, and had freed Jim in her will.
[edit] Academic reception
Huckleberry Finn is largely sympathetic to the plight of escaped slaves and critical of the institution of slavery,[6] According to Cliff Notes: "Jim’s logic, compassion, intelligence, and above all, his loyalty toward Huck, Tom, and his own family, establish him as a heroic figure."
However,beginning in the 20th century the novel was frequently criticized for depicting Jim as a stereotype. According to Professor Stephen Railton of the University of Virginia, Twain was unable to fully rise above the stereotypes of black people that white readers of his era expected and enjoyed. Twain therefore resorted to minstrel show-style comedy to provide humor at Jim's expense, and ended up confirming rather than challenging late-19th century racist stereotypes.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "After Long Absence, Twain's Butler Is, to Return", New York Times (6/18/1994): 27.
- ^ "Smooth Traveler: "Missouri, echoes of war (part one)", Renée S. Gordon, The Philadelphia Sunday SUN, dated, retrieved 31 July 2008
- ^ American Topics : Mark Twain Butler To Be Memorialized, International Herald Tribune, Monday, June 20, 1994
- ^ Lisa Cohen Minnick, Dialect and Dichotomy: Literary Representations of African American Speech. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2004.
- ^ Raphaell Berthele, "Translating African-American Vernacular English into German: The problem of 'Jim' in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn," Journal of Sociolinguistics 4.4 (Nov2000): 588-613.
- ^ Matthew Guinn, "Review of The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn," Southern Quarterly 37.2 (Winter1999): 175-6.
- ^ Stephen Railton, "Jim and Mark Twain: What Do Dey Stan' For?" Virginia Quarterly Review 63 (1987).
