The Characterization of Slaves in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry...

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a controversial American novel due to its uncensored depiction of racist Southern antebellum society. The novel follows a white protagonist named Huckleberry Finn and his runaway slave friend, Jim, as they adventure down the Mississippi River. Twain characterizes Jim as a typical uneducated, unsophisticated slave who is merely a piece of property, in order to expose the reality of slavery in the antebellum period. However, by also giving Jim a paternal role and humane qualities, Twain uses the character of Jim and his relationship with Huck to convey that slaves were humane people, despite how they were viewed and treated at the time. The first time On the outside Jim is introduced in the novel, he is characterized as as a stereotypical slave as he is simple, unsophisticated, illiterate, childlike and superstitious. Huck is simply a representation of the average white person in that era. He may be fascist but wouldn’t even know he was on e due to his society. Huck is not necessarily racist; he goes as far as befriending a slave who is owned by Miss Watson. His initial description of Jim comes off as racist but Huck is merely describing Jim in a way that slaves were typically viewed. Jim is portrayed as childlike in his thinking, naà ¯ve, and superstitious which was a typical stereotype about slaves. At one point, Jim, a grown man, is tricked by Huck, a young boy, on the raft and is made to believe that he is in a dream rather than reality.Show MoreRelated Mark Twains Pessimistic Views Exposed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn782 Words   |  4 PagesMark Twains Pessimistic Views Exposed in Mark Twains Pessimistic Views Exposed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, through examples of hypocrisy, racism, and greed, shows Twains pessimistic view of society and corruption of the human race as a whole. 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