Stursa 1

Taylor Stursa
Mrs. Grissinger
Advanced English 11
1 May 2015
Huck’s Perspective of Jim
Huck’s relationship with Jim allows him to recognize certain attributes in Jim that society is blind to.
Jim is presented as a plain and trusting slave, to the point of gullibility and stupidity.
Despite having been raised in a society that devalues the individuality and humanity of slaves,
Huck’s friendship with Jim gives him a different perspective. After the incident where Jim and
Huck get separated in the fog, Huck attempts to trick Jim by believing he is stupid enough to believe that he imagined the entire thing. Huck feels ashamed after Jim chastises him for his lack of sensitivity. “It was fifteen minutes before I [Huck] could work myself up to go humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and warn’t ever sorry for it afterward, neither.” (Twain 86).
Huck's
apology was both sincere and an acknowledgement that Jim was a person that shared the same emotions with Huck.
Jim’s true colors become the most apparent to Huck when he offers his freedom, a slave’s ultimate sacrifice, to save Tom’s life. While
Huck and Tom help Jim escape from the Phelps’
Farm, Tom is shot in the calf. It soon becomes apparent that his injuries are serious. Jim volunteers to stay to care for Tom, believing he would do the same, while Huck runs for a doctor, even though he knows that it will ultimately lead to his capture and return to slavery.
Huck acknowledges Jim’s