Jims True Colors Essay

Submitted By cameronjones66
Words: 802
Pages: 4
Open Document
Cameron Jones
Ms. Lindberg
English II CP
14 Feb. 2013 Prompt 4: Jim’s True Colors Throughout many works of literature we notice that at least one character is misunderstood. While I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, one character that stood out to me was Jim. Jim was a runaway slave that was overlooked just as any other black person at the time. He runs away and ends up with Huck, a runaway white boy. Huck gets to know Jim and changes his original stereotypical opinion. The characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn looked at Jim as just another slave, who had no personality, and was not to be treated as a human. As a reader, you realize the amount of segregation that was present in America and the personality that Jim has is equal to or better than any other white character in the book. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is set in late 1830’s – early 1840’s. During this time period America was facing an increasing problem on skin color. If they were black, they were given no normal rights and were not treated as humans. However, there was much more to their personality that “white folks” didn’t realize. I believe this made Jim’s character stronger because he accepted the fact that he was completely overlooked in America and he wasn’t cared about. Huck is referring to Jim when he tells the reader, "I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n." This adds to the novel to prove that Jim had a soul, and had just as many feelings as any other American during this time. Jim is smart enough to realize that there were very few white people that would take the time to form their own opinion of him, instead of listening to stereotypes. This helps me, as a reader; realize just how much segregation lived throughout America during this time period. Today skin color still presents issues here and there, however it is nowhere near the intensity that it was during the 1830’s and 1840’s. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim is an example of the common lifestyle that was in America at this time. When we see another person today, we realize their eyes or hair color, however during the 1830’s and 1840’s skin color was the first characteristic to judge about a person. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim is just one of many that have a difficulty with skin color. Huck announces after he learns about Jim’s real character that “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; 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.” This quote really adds to the novel because it shows that Huck took time to get to know Jim and find out just what he is like, and he realized that he is just like any other human. If only America looked past the exterior color and saw what true colors people had on the inside,
Show More

Related Documents: Jims True Colors Essay

How Did Huck Finn Mature

Watson’s slave named Jim. Huck would help Jim escape and find his freedom. Jim and Huck would seem like a very unlikely duo, as Huck is a white Kid, and Jim is an adult black slave, but they grow to be more alike than expected. Huckleberry Finn would mature on his adventure through, his understanding for Jim as a person, his loyalty to Jim, the growth of Huck and Jim’s essay, and his courageous acts to protect his friends. Huck eventually sees that other than the color of his skin, Jim is a regular man…

Words 1051 - Pages 5

Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

around race and morality can do this. Readers must draw conclusions based on their connections with the book due to the controversies within and the books difficulty to truly comprehend. In order to do this, one must look closely at the necessity of Jim within the pages of this story. Jim’s role is essential…

Words 1145 - Pages 5

Huck Finn Essay

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…

Words 312 - Pages 2

Huckleberry Finn And Their Eyes Were Watching God Comparison

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, which illustrate the struggles that these individuals faced in their journey to happiness in a discriminatory society. In these two novels, the authors are given the ability to describe the people of color in their own way, and this brings positives and negatives. Throughout these books, there are strengths and…

Words 1241 - Pages 5

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Hair Ball Essay

nigger, 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. (ch 4) Obviously, something does not have magic powers just because it was in the stomach of an ox. For Huck to ask the hair ball for advice, and for Jim to give it to him, is just plain silly. Is that any sillier than thinking a person can be owned because of the color of his skin? Jim may use…

Words 452 - Pages 2

Prejudice In William Hazlitt's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

racism towards African Americans has been handled; with ignorance. William Hazlitt an English writer, as well as a social commentator and philosopher, believed that racism towards African Americans was the result of the un-educated not realizing the color of one’s skin is just pigmentation and nothing more; it does not determine mental capacity and or ones morals etc. Racism and prejudice towards African Americans has been present before and even after the abolition of slavery. In fact, many historians…

Words 968 - Pages 4

Satire In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

causing the ongoing struggle of African Americans to be exemplified through Twain’s incorporation of satire. At the time, white supremacy was present and Tom Sawyer felt that he was more capable of making decisions than Jim. Tom created a plan that was indirect and extravagant, and “Jim he couldn’t see no sense in the most of it, but he allowed we was white folks and knowed better than him” (262).…

Words 423 - Pages 2

Should Huck Finn Be Banned Essay

where bullying is sadly so prevalent, those with honor cannot only help someone else, but stand up for what is right. Those who possess true honor are far more superior to the average man. The beauty of this book is that Huck, a kid, and Jim, a slave, possess this trait, despite the odds. Honor is gained by experience, not necessarily age. Huck and Jim show what true honor is as they travel together down the Mississippi River. Some may think this book should be banned in classrooms because of the controversy…

Words 871 - Pages 4

Huckleberry Finn 127 Years Later Essay

and the people did not see their way of live as immoral. They have strong beliefs and thought they could change or beat out the evil in other people. Huck was too young to realize people are not property. Huck himself is not prejudiced; he treats Jim as an equal, not as a slave or someone owned by the white man. At one point, Huck struggles with his morals, knowing it is wrong to help a slave escape. Curry 2 “Conscience says to me, what had poor Miss Watson done to you, that you could see her…

Words 750 - Pages 3

The New Jim Crow Summary

The New Jim Crow" highlights the racial measurements of the War on Drugs. It contends that government drug approach unjustifiably targets groups of color, keeping a huge number of youthful, black men in a cycle of neediness and in jail. The book starts by discrediting claims that prejudice is dead. The individuals who accept that full uniformity been accomplished would do well to notice numerous African Americans' existence today. A remarkable measure of blacks are still banned from voting in light…

Words 872 - Pages 4