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Huckleberry Finn

 

            
            
             "Well it's lucky; because sometimes people get hurt" (page 216).
             This quotation from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the mindset of people in the Mississippi Valley in the early nineteenth century. Black people were not even thought of as people, but as a piece of property. Blacks were treated a small amount better than livestock. Although slavery has been abolished for a long time, racism still exists today. The racial barrier between whites and blacks is what's left of an ancient mindset. Huck Finn's life and the people he meets show the hypocrisy, and the lack of compassion that existed in his time.
             Twain uses the character of Jim to show the natural common sense of black people, but the lack of education and knowledge. Jim's character is extremely level headed, but he still has little understanding. Although Jim can spot the fact that the King and the Duke are scoundrels, he cannot understand why a French man speaks another language. Jim has a lot in common with Lacey from The Crazy Horse Electric Game. Jim and Lacy are both Black men, with low status in society. They both have good hearts, and they both are in bondage. Jim is held back physically by the slave owner. Lacey is held back psychologically by his wife, and the memories of his son. Both of the men could become respectable people with a little help, and a second chance at life.
             Slavery is no more right than murder. In a way they are the same thing. When a person is murdered, someone else ends his or her life. When a person is held in bondage, someone else holds his or her life, and they never get the chance to live. Twain uses many characters in the book to show the hypocrisy that existed in his time. The character of Ms. Watson pretends to be a Christian, compassionate, loving woman. In reality Ms. Watson doesn't even have the compassion to let Jim stay in a place where he can see his family. Ms. Watson is used not to criticize slavery, or white supremacy, but hypocrisy.


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