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In the modern world, everyone is viewed equally. All men and women are given the same rights and privileges, as they should be. These beliefs, however, have not always been active. Mark Twain, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, used nigger to describe African-American slaves, and used situations to show the property-like traits these slaves had. This may be considered extremely lewd and unreasonable now, but in 1885, when this book was written, it was the common way of thinking and acting, especially in the south. So, this book may clash with the common understanding of school-age children appropriate books, but in all aspects, this was the true thinking pattern in America.
In the book, Jim, a runaway slave, befriends Huck Finn, a young boy running away from his past life. All throughout the book, Jim trusts Huck unconditionally. Huck: you s de bes fren Jim s ever had; en you s de only fren ole Jim s got now (Pg. 67). Even after the mean tricks Huck plays on Jim, he still remains loyal. For example, Huck put a dead snake at the end of Jim s blanket, thinking there d be some fun when Jim found him there (Pg. 39). As it turns out the snake s mate came there and bit Jim on the heel, leaving him un mobile for four days.
Not once does Jim suspect that Huck might have put the snake there, he just assumes that it was from another time in the story where Huck picked up a dead snake skin and cast a spell of bad luck on the both of them. Even though Jim is not as book smart as Huck, or any other white boy in the south, he is no where near stupid. At one point in the book, Huck tries to convince Jim that an event that really happened was just a dream. Jim was unsure at first, but then soon realized Huck was lying. Dat truck dah is trash; en trash is what people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren s en makes em ashamed (Pg. 65).
Huck felt bad after playing this prank on Jim, and decided to never do this sort of thing again. 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 know it would make him feel that way (Pg. 65). This incident also made Huck realize that Jim is not just the so-called property all slaves were thought of; Jim, in fact was a real human being with real human being emotions. Slaves were not as smart or civilized as whites were in the late 1800 s, but there is no way they could have been. Slaves were not allowed to attend schools, learn how to read and write, or any other privileges that so many of us now take for granted.
Jim should not be a reason to ban this book from schools, or any other truth-filled book like it. Jim should be considered a reason to learn more about our beginnings. People should read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and come out more educated about how drastically situations and thought processes have changed since the 1800 s.
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Research essay sample on Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Real Human
