As opposed to Huck’s need to escape mental and physical abuse, freedom to Jim means the release from the shackles of servitude that define him, and every other slave, as insignificant and disposable to the free white members of society. While Jim’s quest for freedom in the novel holds significance, his preeminent role is to provide Huck with a nurturing paternal figure who models realistic and moral intelligence. By supplying him with the physical affection and positive reinforcement he was deprived of throughout his adolescence, Jim humanizes Huck; therefore, allowing the maturing boy to recognize and acknowledge Jim as a real person with the capacity to feel universal human emotions. Huck’s decision to abandon the accepted societal notions of morality in order to remain loyal to his new friend Jim, “I was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it … ‘All right then, I’ll go to hell’—and tore it up … and never thought no more about reforming” (217), not only exposes the extent of his affection towards him, but also demonstrates Huck’s advances in establishing his own terms of morality. Huck and Jim’s friendship originally emerges as a beneficial alliance; however, the bond intensifies and eventually flourishes …show more content…
By the end of the novel, Twain illustrates how the binding chains that detain Huck and Jim from liberation are practically impossible to destroy. Huck will never completely free himself from the society he fears or the lonesomeness that gradually deteriorates his psychological health. Likewise, while Jim may legally be emancipated and considered a free man, he will always be a slave to the racist stereotypes and prejudices of others. All things considered, liberation remains to act as a prevalent motivation throughout humankind; however, the people’s contrasting perceptions make breaking away from all the confinements of society and one’s own psyche practically impossible to achieve, no matter how free one may be