The novel Huck Finn takes place in the antebellum South, however Mark Twain wrote it after the Civil War itself. Even during the post-Civil War era, Southerners showed strong racist sentiment towards African Americans through the Jim Crow laws and "separate but equal " treatment, influencing the nature of the novel. This factual information can easily be taught in a classroom or found in history textbooks, but class materials fail to portray the truly devastating personal and emotional effects that African-Americans endured in the harsh face of racism. Huck Finn perfectly captures the intense emotional agony Jim faces running away from his family, exposing the oppressive realities of the time period. In the morning when Huck wakes up, he overhears Jim mourning over the separation from his family, "He was thinking about his wife and his children[.]and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n. It don't seem natural, but I reckon it's so. He was often moaning and mourning that way nights, when he judged I was asleep, and saying, ˜Po' little ˜Liza-beth! po' little Johnny! it's mighty hard; I spec' I ain't ever gwyne to see you no mo', no mo'!' He was a mighty good nigger, Jim was " (Twain 155). Huck's preconceived notions that African-Americans lack the ability to care of their children and family stem from white society's teachings that African Americans are devoid of human emotion and fail to have normal relationships with the people they love. This idea strongly supported by Huck's words strips any sense of humanity from African-Americans because it implies that blacks are unable to perform basic human functions such as love and feel, simply based on their skin color. However, Jim's deep sorrow over losing the family he appreciates and loves becomes clearly evident as he spends his night mourning, breaking the stereotype that African-Americans are not worthy of family and relationships.
