Finding a Friend Behind the Mask

Throughout the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, the word ‘nigger’ is used regularly and loosely. In current society the word is one of the most derogatory, evil and hated words known. The word is hardly used now a day but back during the time that this novel was written, racism was as evident as leaves on trees. The word has caused many people to fear the issues surfaced in the novel, and therefore it is not surprising that the novel has been banned in numerous cities and states across North America. The use of the word in the novel however should not be looked at as a sin, but rather a word that places a value on how far society has come in regards to opening people’s eyes to the fact that there is only one way to spell human. H-u-m-a-n. Not b-l-a-c-k or w-h-i-t-e. Just h-u-m-a-n. A reoccurring theme in this novel is slavery and all of the dedicated believers that come with it; all of them with blood plagued by cruelty, and eyes blind to humanity. Mark Twain does a great deal throughout the novel to prepare the reader to create his or her own opinions and realities about slavery. Subtle but obvious enough to notice, Mark Twain is able to convince the reader that his views are proper and because of that he is very successful at proving that ‘niggers’ are humans too. By making Jim a main character in the novel, Mark Twain expresses his personal views on slavery through the encounters of Jim. Mark Twain creates fictitious realities about the equality of all men in several different ways, all expressed through Jim. One of the ways, is how he includes passages dedicated solely to Jim’s ‘human’ emotions. Another way results from how he shows Jim as a caring and loyal friend to Huck. The final way that Mark Twain shows Jim, a ‘nigger’, as human is when he describes Huck’s feelings and reactions towards Jim. By doing all of these things, certain images are painted in the reader’s head that allow them to look through the eyes of Mark Twain. Through the eyes of a man who went against everything he was taught to believe, and a man who revealed the truth, to essentially the world, about slavery. He has proven through this novel that everyone deserves an equal chance and everyone deserves to be treated like the human they are.

Back in the times when slavery was as present as a horse at the racetrack, ‘niggers’ were so un-human that they didn’t deserve to have feelings or emotions. They were placed solely on the earth to work as slaves and to satisfy their owners. Or at least that is what the world was forced to believe. Mark Twain had anything but a conventional mind however, and was willing to challenge the beliefs of not only the people of America but the church as well. He chose to write about the journey of a black man and a white boy, connected through the river. He created the notion that Jim was just as human as everyone else, and to help him portray the, at the time impossible, characteristic he allowed Jim to have feelings and emotions. One specific example is when Jim