Prof. Derek P. Royal
ENG 442 – Survey of American Literature II
Huckleberry Finn and the Question of Racism
Arguments for Huckleberry Finn as a racist text:
1.
Twain doesn’t
take slavery, therefore blacks, seriously
Ø
Jim is described
as childlike
Ø
The lack of
credibility within the text:
·
Jim is ignorant
about alternatives to heading south down the
·
There is a lack of
anxiety about traveling on the raft
·
Miss Watson’s
slave, Jim, is suspected of killing Huck
Ø
Narrative is
nothing more than a white male adolescent fantasy about escaping responsibility
2.
Uses of the word
“nigger” by both white and black characters
3.
Twain’s
minstrel-like portrayal of Jim and other black characters
Ø
Negative and
demeaning traits assigned to blacks
Ø
Edward Windwor Kemble’s illustrations
reinforce racial stereotypes
·
Kemble’s history in drawing stereotypical blacks for
publishers and advertisers
·
Encouraged
current stereotypes of blacks of his time by drawing them as:
o
Simple and
ignorant
o
With baggy and
frayed clothes OR with “fancy” clothes inappropriately worn as pretense
o
Often
open-mouthed and pop-eyed
o
Slumping posture
·
Twain disliked
some of Kemble’s drawings, but he didn’t object to
any of Jim
·
Twain was aware
of the literary marketplace, knew that readers would “enjoy” stereotyped
illustrations
Ø
Such
illustrations and characterizations of Jim flatten him, discarding his
complexity of character
Ø
Characterizations
make it difficult to chart Huck’s shifting perceptions of Jim
4.
The novel is too
ambiguous for many readers
Ø
Age and
sophistication of reader
·
1983 study of Jr.
High students showed that they didn’t see the satire in the novel
Ø
The Aunt Sally exchange
(chapter 32)
·
Does Huck
actually understand her attitudes?
Ø
To believe in
Twain’s satirical intent, the reader would have to believe in Huck’s good faith
toward Jim. But:
·
Huck forgets all
about Jim while at the Grangerfords (chapters 17-18)
·
Huck goes along
with Tom’s “adventure” plans at the Phelps’s
Arguments against Huckleberry Finn as a racist text:
1.
The novel
provides a “picture” of Jim as a function of the author’s place and time; this shouldn’t
negate Twain’s overall indictment of a society that accepted slavery
2.
The sheer gravity
of Huck’s predicament suggests the seriousness of Twain’s anti-racist message
Ø
Huck decides to
go to Hell instead of sending the letter to Miss Watson—the most serious, and
potentially grave, decision he makes in the entire novel
Ø
His exchange with
Aunt Sally can be read as a “silent dissent” towards her racist attitudes…keep
in mind that Huck doesn’t respond much in reply to her comment, “Well, it’s
lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt,” except to abruptly change the
subject
3.
Jim is a more
intelligent and sophisticated character than he appears on the surface
Ø
He shows up Huck
many times and makes him mad and/or jealous (e.g., his reasoning on Solomon and
the French, chapter 14)
Ø
He is complex and
very human
·
He admonishes
Huck for playing nasty tricks (chapter 15)
·
His description
of his deaf daughter shows his human failings as well as his compassion
(chapter 23)
4.
Jim as a
manipulator
Ø
His use of the
“witch” incident—Jim uses this as “stock” for the build-up of his reputation
among those in the slave community (chapter 2)
Ø
He doesn’t let
Huck see Pap dead…why not? Because
Huck’s main reason for running away was to escape Pap. And Huck is Jim’s best means, or “cover,” to
escaping captivity. Thus, Jim
manipulates the situation in order to ensure his means of escape (chapter 9)
Ø
He manipulates
Huck’s emotions when he senses that Huck is about to turn him in, playing on
his sympathies by saying that Huck was the best friend Jim ever had (chapter
16)
Ø
He goes along
with Tom’s game at the Phelps’s – demonstrates that Jim is a pragmatist. He realizes that there is no way of escaping
the Phelps’s alone, so he bides his time until he’s able to get away
5.
Huck goes along with
Tom’s games at the Phelps’s, but not completely
Ø
He draws the line
at times and refuses to do anything too extreme
Ø
He “lets on” and
uses imagination (normally associated with Tom) to counter Tom’s plans—“letting
on” in pretend is safer than the potentially harmful reality
Ø
His agreement to
many of the Tom’s schemes is the result of him falling (partly) under the sway
of Tom’s stronger personality