Book AnalysisAlthough The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn may seem like a light-hearted and entertaining novel about the wild adventures of a boy and his new friend and runaway companion Jim, Mark Twain wrote the book to inform and open the eyes of American society to his flaws as well as entertaining us with the funny and crazy events present in the book. Twain, a staunch abolitionist, used the book as a platform for his argument against Southern racism and hypocrisy during the 1800s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Mark Twain uses many tools to illustrate his argument against racism, the hypocrisy of the American people, and the flaws of American society at the time such as Pap's drunken lecture scene when Huck meets Mrs. Phelps and the Jim's role in Huck's life and characteristics during the adventure. The portrayal of Jim in the book is controversial as some believe that Twain was racist by portraying Jim as a gullible and unintelligent person who thinks he is worth a sum of money and is a piece of property to be owned. But in reality, Twain used Jim and carefully planned his role in the novel to support his cause against the morally wrong discrimination against blacks prevalent in American society in the 1800s. Twain achieves his intention of placing Jim in the book by illustrating him in a so that he is a kind, caring, loyal human being who is morally the best character in the book who contradicts southern ideas of the time that African Americans were not people but property and racial stereotypes, such as African Americans were inhumane, devoid of intelligence, and lacking in compassion and feelings, and shows the hypocrisy of the white American population. Even though Mark Twain wrote the book in 1880, more than a decade after the Civil War and the emancipation of all slaves, racism was still prevalent until the years following the civil rights movement. As shown in Huck's book Southern Morals, most Americans believed that blacks were inferior for many reasons, such as being unintelligent and emotionless. Mark Twain uses Jim's emotions and affection for his family to demonstrate that these stereotypes are false and to attack the main reasons why whites believed they were superior and could be racist towards African Americans. When Jim and Huck are separated during the fog scene, Jim expresses sadness when he and Huck are separated and relief when Huck returns to him. “When I got tired of work, and didn't call you, and went to sleep, my heart almost broke because you were los'” (Twain 95). In the quote, Jim tells how he worked tirelessly to try to find Huck and how he was heartbroken when he and Huck were separated. In the quote, Twain is trying to show that Jim, along with other African Americans, can have emotions and feelings for others. This evidence of Jim's emotions contradicts the racial stereotype that African Americans had no feelings or emotions and supports Twain's argument against racism. Another example of when we see Jim's emotions is when he talks about his estranged family. Before the book took place, Jim was separated from his wife and daughter, which takes an emotional toll on him. Later in the story, we see how important his family was to him and how emotionally distraught he is about being separated from them. While the king and duke were on the raft, Huck and Jim took turnsto supervise and keep the raft on course. After choosing to take the first shift and thinking that Huck is sleeping, Jim begins to cry and cry for the family he misses dearly. “When I woke up, just at dawn, he was sitting there with his head between his knees, moaning and crying to himself. I didn't notice, nor did I let on. I knew what it was. He thought of his wife and children far away... I think he cared about his people as much as white people care about theirs. It doesn't seem natural but I think it's so” (Twain 170). This quote is vital to Twain's argument because it disproves the common notion of the time that blacks were incapable of caring for others and loving their families. In the quote, the reader can fully understand the racism of American society at the time, when Huck said that he didn't think black people were capable of loving and caring for their families. Twain uses Huck's line and Jim's feelings for his family to show how African Americans were no different from whites and that the racist ideas and morals that Huck and millions of others had grown up with were patently wrong. Before the King and Duke scene, Huck and Jim are rafting down the river and approaching the Northern and free states, when Jim tells Huck how grateful he is for him and all his efforts to help Jim become free. In the scene, Jim declares, "Pooty, soon I'll be mad with joy, and I'll say, it's all because of Huck; I'm a free man, and I could never be free if it wasn't Ben in Huck's place; Huck's got it he did. Jim will never forget you, Huck; you're the best fren Jim ever had; and you're the only friend Jim has now” (Twain 111). however have relationships and emotions, Twain inserts this phrase to say that Jim and Huck are equal in the world. In the verse, Twain attacks racism at the time of the book, saying that Huck and Jim are equal and that nothing stops the two from having a relationship. Twain's second point in his attack on racism is how hypocritical the ideas of racist society were. At the time of writing the book, many Caucasian Americans believed they were better than African Americans in every sense, but Twain challenges. this theory by presenting the reader with morally evil white characters and morally good Jim. Throughout the book, Jim is consistently loyal, compassionate, and selfless, while most of the other Caucasian characters are selfish, backstabbing, and evil. The good of Jim and the bad of Pap and other white characters show that people's characteristics are not divided. between race and that the idea that Caucasians are always superior especially morally is false. In the book we see a profound contrast between Jim and Pap. While Jim symbolizes good, Pap symbolizes evil, also being associated with the devil. One major difference between the two is that Jim is compassionate towards Huck and selfless, while Pap neglects and abuses Huck and is self-centered. After Huck and Jim find the houseboat with Dad lying dead inside, Jim takes care of Huck and decides not to let him see Dad's dead face, to protect him from the emotions of the death of a family member. Without knowing what Jim was doing, Huck tells the story as, “Come in, Huck, but look at his face: it's too shabby” (Twain 62). This simple act of kindness on Jim's part greatly differentiates him from Pap and other white people in the story such as the King and the Duke. It shows that Jim truly cares about others besides himself like Huck, when he tries to protect Huck from his father's death. On the other hand, Pap is selfish and uncaring, which is shown when he sees Huck for the first time in a while, but he is more concerned about, 1999.