Jim and Huck
The Mississippi River has been represented as a symbol of both freedom and friendship. Soon after Huck Finn fakes his own death, he coincidentally runs into Jim, a runaway slave belonging to Widow Douglas. Early in the novel, Huck has already proven to the readers that he is street smart, not too materialistic, and doesn't care about money too much. But he has grown up in an Antebellum society where blacks are still slaves and are discriminated against. The right thing for Huck to do is to turn Jim in to the government because he's a runaway slave. If not, they're both at the risk of being in danger. However, after Jim asks for Huck to keep him safe and not tell, Huck had placed his own morals ahead.
In chapter eight of the novel, Huck promised that he wouldn't tell the slave hunters about Jim, but by chapter eleven, Huck and Jim's friendship is gradually developing. He says, "They're after us." The idea of "us" is different from confronting the slave hunters about not having a slave, but their friendship has developed. By chapter sixteen, Huck has gone from passively saving Jim to actively saving Jim. "I'll go to hell," Huck says to the readers, and as a developed Coming of Age character, he finally feels that it's the right thing for him to save Jim. It may not be the right thing by federal law, but by his sound heart, he doesn't want to get rid of him. When Jim first ran away though, Huck didn't know what to feel about his actions. He probably thought it was wrong for him to runaway, but okay that Jim wants to embrace the life out of slavery. Mentioned before, Huck would risk his life for Jim, which shows a change in his moral reasoning.
According to Lawrence Kohlberg, the third stage of moral development/reasoning is risking one's life for a close friend. In this scenario, Huck is risking his life for a friend, which is Jim. Early in the novel, Huck first wanted to go to Hell because his best friend Tom was going, as Widow Douglas and Miss Watson would say. He thought that Hell was better than where he was now. This was stage two in Kohlberg moral reasoning because he was just doing it out of annoying both of the women by saying that he doesn't have to follow their orders. Through Mark Twain's commentary, he is showing that Huck is gaining knowledge about the real world. Because of this, he's beginning to see what's underneath Jim's dark skin.
Looking at this friendship from a bird's eye view to many people in the Antebellum era may seem disturbing because it's between a young white boy and an older African-American. What's ironic about this duo is Mark Twain shows irony in both of the characters. Huck is covered in rags, running away, even know he is one of the most moral people in the novel. Jim looks like a criminal for one, being African American and two, running away, but as a man, he is a father figure to Huck that he's never had.
In chapter eight of the novel, Huck promised that he wouldn't tell the slave hunters about Jim, but by chapter eleven, Huck and Jim's friendship is gradually developing. He says, "They're after us." The idea of "us" is different from confronting the slave hunters about not having a slave, but their friendship has developed. By chapter sixteen, Huck has gone from passively saving Jim to actively saving Jim. "I'll go to hell," Huck says to the readers, and as a developed Coming of Age character, he finally feels that it's the right thing for him to save Jim. It may not be the right thing by federal law, but by his sound heart, he doesn't want to get rid of him. When Jim first ran away though, Huck didn't know what to feel about his actions. He probably thought it was wrong for him to runaway, but okay that Jim wants to embrace the life out of slavery. Mentioned before, Huck would risk his life for Jim, which shows a change in his moral reasoning.
According to Lawrence Kohlberg, the third stage of moral development/reasoning is risking one's life for a close friend. In this scenario, Huck is risking his life for a friend, which is Jim. Early in the novel, Huck first wanted to go to Hell because his best friend Tom was going, as Widow Douglas and Miss Watson would say. He thought that Hell was better than where he was now. This was stage two in Kohlberg moral reasoning because he was just doing it out of annoying both of the women by saying that he doesn't have to follow their orders. Through Mark Twain's commentary, he is showing that Huck is gaining knowledge about the real world. Because of this, he's beginning to see what's underneath Jim's dark skin.
Looking at this friendship from a bird's eye view to many people in the Antebellum era may seem disturbing because it's between a young white boy and an older African-American. What's ironic about this duo is Mark Twain shows irony in both of the characters. Huck is covered in rags, running away, even know he is one of the most moral people in the novel. Jim looks like a criminal for one, being African American and two, running away, but as a man, he is a father figure to Huck that he's never had.
