Fleeing Wonderland: Huck & Jim's River Adventure - Essay Sample

Introduction

Race in Huckleberry Finn tells about a teenager fleeing from a wonderland where he is yet to define his destiny, a destiny that changes his current view of the blacks. He is swept down by river Mississippi where he meets his adventure partner, Jim. Jim is running from his owner, who had planned to sell him and buy another slave. He cannot allow himself to get sold. He instead intends to look for money that he would use to buy his wife and children and start a new family. Both Jim and Huck join hands, under the bottom line of friendship, to face the adventurous life that lies ahead. irrespective, the two had to be more together than apart to strengthen their trust. Jim shapes the way whites should face their black counterparts, they should not be taken as non-human as most whites think. Even though Jim was his friend, Huck had never trusted him due to his color and slave-like.

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The story reached its peak when Huck realized that his friend Jim is not as bad as the society where he comes from treats other blacks. Instead, he considers him a loyal friend. On their quest for destiny, they come across a Duke and the King who makes them to a separate mission, different root. In his way, Huckleberry wonders which life is the fit for the human race, the one he was taught by his friend Jim or that of his own hypocritical life. Jim had shown him that slavery could only get suppressed when both the whites and the blacks join hands together. He is caught up between two societies, his southern racial society and that of the north, which sees the blacks as human. This is an illustration of the whole story of Huckleberry Finn and his adventure.

Mark Twain is the author of this fantastic article written in an era of slavery and racial segregation. His primary name Samuel Clemens and gets very much remembered as a sharp and critical writer who used to criticize the ill happenings in society. He realized that his community was governed by people of fall pretense, always looking higher than the culture themselves. Most of the people during this period were never unified and still had terrible thoughts of the black people in America. The adventure of Huckleberry Finn got written in the early 1880s, during which the American nation was undergoing two distinctive norms and believed; that is the typical or non-official and the official. During this period, slavery was the case even though it had started reducing (Franklin p1).

The non-official system presented inequity and restricted freedom while the conventional system advocated for free and equitable rights among the American. This created a division among the societal members where the less civilized was named salvages, and the privileged got termed as educated individuals. This system of life within society was the key reason why Twan wrote this novel. His main aim was to oppose and distance himself from such egotism and hypocritical life. Hypocrisy is one of the major thematic concerns the Twan was trying to address in this novel.

Discursively, there are two significant forms of hypocrisy in this text. These are racial segregation and religious hypocrisy. These two themes are interrelated since agents and supporters of slave systems were churches and other religious leaders (Menaka and Shankar p2). The issue of hypocrisy related to social status is also a subject even though it does not get realized more openly open in the text. It gets achieved via the actions of Jim and his counterpart Huck who avails the in-depth of this kind of hypocrisy. Huck's sense of belief in the world's points of view starts to change when he realizes that he believes far different from what other people might believe in. In his point of view, a lot of issues are happening, and society has taken such a ride. An example of such scenarios is when a person of high caliber is discriminating against the non-citizens of America and non-whites such as Black Americans. Miss Watson is a representative of this person of high quality who was known to believe that racial and societal hypocrisy are factors to emphasize on.

Racism has been formed in this text by the texture of the characters created by Mark Twan. The characterization of any book must depict what the writer intends to deliver to his/her audiences. Many were against the novel relating it with the racial propagation of the whites against the Blacks in America. In his way, he brought up his characters to depict the life of the Blacks natives in America. Their ascent and language separated them quickly from other Americans just Twan developed in his characterization (Baffai p36).

Jim is depicted as a good character that loves his people, serves dearly, and portrays figurative ideas that alter the life of Huck, his friend in the adventure. Nonetheless, Miss Watson sees this character as an individual with an ambiguous mind, non-educated, as well as less civilized, who cannot deliver anything constructive. Miss Watson even relates him to Huck, who grew under the umbrella of prejudice and hatred against the blacks. Twan brings up this character, from the first chapters, as one with a lot of superstitions and believes that are not related to the whites. Generally, he was trying to develop a character that would represent a stereotypical and slavery world of the early 80s (Jocelyn p16).

The sense of playing minstrel instrument was a signed of immature behavior among the 'Negros' black Americans. Huck had realized that this kind of show was so popular among these blacks as opposed to other areas within America. As Joanna Wilks pledges to know how the life of the slave or the servants is doing, Huck responds by telling him that they are never entitled to any free time or a holiday the whole year. There were never shows, theatres, or any free place that the blacks were allowed to attend. Huck felt that the blacks were very happy doing and dully living their life, not as the whites could consider. To the whites, such shows got preserved as essential events that generated positive vibes to society. On the other side, the blacks were very much okay with their slavery life and could not bother looking at whatever cultural activities the whites would employ. As a result, the whites considered this stupid and illiterate that the blacks could not resist being a slave (Mariana p22).

Another character who portrays racism is Pap. Under several circumstances, especially when he is drunk, Pap would illustrate the positivity of the ruling government on how they treat the slaves. He would speak ill of the blacks who were living on his land. Unluckily for him, the black could speak several languages alongside participating in the American elections, not their soil. It's like the government had failed him on one thing, the right to vote. He swore never to vote again with the blacks (Twan p29). This indicates Pap's racism character against the blacks being on the ballot box while it should be mindful to consider an educated black to rule equally as the whites (Ismail p34).

Aunt Sally also depicts this theme of racism in this text. When she requested to know whether Huck got hurt after killing a black, she responds by saying that sometimes people do get (The caption is available on Twan page 223). This shows that even if a black man succumbed to death, there should never be a remorseful mood. She treats them as non-human or people who can never have any life worth living.

The race was also a subject to other characters who felt like the slaves were never human and just goods that can get purchased as other products from any retail shops. Blacks were never allowed to go against their owners. Any attempt to flee from their owners would lead to severe punishment. In case one leaf, the owner would pay a section of individuals to service their return. Twan page 45 shows Miss Watson's plan to resell her slavery worker, Jim, to Orleans. Jim flees upon getting this news. Miss Watson had planned to sell him and secure some dollars son that would enable her to purchase a new product, slave.

Towns' men are the sole proprietors of the black who get treated as slaves. These people treat their black subjects as foolish individuals with witchcraft minds. People would come from all over the region to get entertained by Jim's stories. This even pictured him as a bewitched man who could use his charms to lure people into his home for such stories. Many people would come from remote areas and all corners of the state to go and see and hear his stories. He seemed famous in the region than no other men (Twan p6).

Another instance where racism has gotten realized is the journey of Huck and Jim. Huck reveals his character as a racist upon his numerous questions about slavery life. Often questions his conscience over his relationship with a slave, Jim, who had escaped from his owner. When Jim explains to Huck his reasons for escape and future ideologies for his keens, Huck takes his ideas as pity ones. All the same, Jim plans to look for more funds to help save his family. He plans to buy his wife and offspring from his master. In case her master denies him a chance to buy them, he has sworn to robe them like one could steal some properties. Huck becomes apprehensive over this matter and feels it was right to the blacks. Jim was ready to save those children irrespective of their parenthood, race, or culture (Twan p101).

When the King and the Duke had lost their money, their immediate suspects are the slaves who used to clean their yards. Like Pap, they presume that any misconduct that may arise amongst them will be as a result of the blacks. Moreover, blacks are associated with harmful activities such as stealing and robbery. The Duke and King knowingly change the location of the stolen money. It is the money they took so that Huck could either find it under the slave's docket or fails to get it to their advantage. They treat the slaves as thieves (Twan p299).

Huck finds it challenging to believe Jim's intellectual mind as other slaves from the south are presumed illiterate and lacks intelligence. His background has taught him to look down upon the blacks, but it's different from Jim, a representative of the dark. Huck took heed of everything that came out of his mouth. He was almost right in any way that he could say them. He was different from any other blacks or slaves for that matter (Twain p81). According to the southern believes blacks have no trace of intelligence as the whites. The slaves can never reason above their slavery skills. But Jim proves him different and forces him to change his perceptions over the blacks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Twan had planned to bring up the picture of racism within the states of America as wells as other parts of the nation. Slavery and racism and any other subjects that hinder the freedom of anyone, be it white or black man, should be smashed away without any second thought. Let people go with the advancements and changes of the current universe. Let us not behave like Pap, who could not elect a black man because of his color. The intelligence and intellectuality of an individual are not measured based on his/her color but by what he can put before everyone.

Work Cited

Adela J. "The Problem of Slavery and Race in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Jihocesk Univerzita V Ceskych Budejovicich Filozoficka Fakulta Ustav Anglistiky. 2014

Alice C. "Racism and Huckleberry Finn" censorship, dialogue, and change. English journal VOL 82. 2000

Baffi A. "Racism in Mark Twain's Novel; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Thematic Analysis" 2016

Carey-Webb, Allen. "Racism and 'Huckleberry Finn': Censorship, Dialogue, and Change." The English Journal, vol. 82, no. 7, 2001, pp. 22-34. www.jstor.org/stable/829788.

Fredrik K. "Racial and Religious Hypocrisy in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Kristianstad University. ENL60. 2007

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