It never ceases to amaze me how people go to great lengths to cover up or hide the ills of society. The racism that existed during the time of Huck is as real as the book portrays it. It may sound ignorant to those who are born after 1970 and are not of the black race, but for me it is nothing new.
I can understand how Toni Morrison and other black people would take offense to the term “nigger” that is used so frequently in the book. I can even see why some would feel it an even greater insult the incorporate humor into such a disgraceful treatment of another human being. What I don’t understand is what is worse the mentioning of the act or the act itself?
In the book Jim is depicted as a funny talking, funny looking, raggedy clothes wearing, uneducated human being. Where some of his character is far fetched most is not. I found myself asking the question “am I to see this book as fiction or non-fiction.” As a fiction character I would laugh at all of the people in the book because they all at some point resemble Jim in all ways. On page 147 the caption “Courting on the Sly “is of a white male and female whom can fit the profile of Jim. The explanation is, “some of the young men was bare footed, and some and some of the children didn’t have on any clothes but just a tow-linen shirt.” Or the caption “I am the Late Dauphin!” on page 141 that paints the white men as funny and ragged looking make them look as poor and ignorant as Jim.
For Huck to not see Jim as a human being, equal to him, is something that has transcended time. It was only a few years ago that I ran into a group of white people who had not been exposed to black people on a personal level. They were as in the dark about the culture as the Huck is about Jim.
Like it or not the book is a true depiction of what blacks endured as a result of racism. What I do find to be fiction is the adventures the two of them encountered and always managed to escape. I also see that even though Jim is intended to be an underprivileged “nigger” he is portrayed as being a voice of wisdom for Huck.
Red 2.0
16 years ago
I agree with your thoughts about why black people would object to Huck Finn. Even though Huck Finn came to overcome his prejudices and view Jim as at least as another human being, if not an equal. Sometimes a writer's character will begin to develop their own kind of mind, and it's this quality in Jim that makes me like him. He is shackled by the humor.
ReplyDeleteAs a sheltered white girl, I can hardly imagine dealing with racism, though I hope if I did I would deal with it alright. The only thing I could think of was when my cousin moved to work in impoverished areas of rural South Africa, and black children were afraid to approach her, thinking she had gotten sick and lost her color.
Erica.