The “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in 1884, and it has become Samuel Clemens’s (Mark Twain’s) most successful novel. The issue that lies centrally at the core of this epic novel is racism; the book is about racism. Throughout the book, we read about we encounter the plights of Jim and Huck, two of the most important characters. These two are traveling down Mississippi River. The characters in this novel have a varied understanding of race and racism. When confronted with racism, they also act or respond differently. Moreover, the character’s definition of what race is as varied as human beings come.
Huck treatment of Jim is racist all through the story. He demeans Jim and is insensitive to him. For Huck, race primarily determines the level of intelligence of a person. At one point in the story, Huck tells Jim King Solomon’s story. The version of the story Huck tells Jim is exceedingly skewed that Jim encounters difficulties in comprehending. The incomprehension frustrates Huck, and he utters some snide remarks. He says, “I never seen such a nigger.”(Twain, p.89). This comment is full of racism, and it depicts Huck’s unnecessary irritation at lack of intelligence that he supposes Jim espouses. Huck is younger than Jim, and he thinks he is way smarter than Jim. Huck’s view is myopic because he firmly believes that it is not the age of a person or their experience that determine the intelligence of a person. When confronted with the racial slurs directed at him by Huck, Jim continuously offers protection to Huck and takes the racial abuse, insensitivity, and his demeaning behavior passively. Moreover, Huck believes people from particular race lack feelings.
He tries to play a very mean trick on Jim that ends up injuring him after a storm incidence had subsided. When Jim discovers his trick after being hurt, he confronts Huck, who is reluctant to apologize. He confesses thus, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger-but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn’t do him no mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d knowed it would make him feel that way.” (Twain, p.95). Huck here implies that he did wrong to apologize to Jim. Jim being a black man is unworthy of his apologies. Huck believes that people from the black race lack feelings that he has himself. Moreover, the feelings of Jim, whose is black, can never be similar to his and they will lack validity. The identity of Jim being a black man makes very different from Huck.
In the novel, Huck’s father is a racist and abusive old man who is ever drunk. He is devoid of almost virtues. Huck’s father, by the virtue of being white, he seemed superior to black people like a black college professor in Ohio. Race signified whether someone was superior or inferior. Huck’s father raves about the inferiority he supposes a black college professor has in one of his racist rants when under the influence of alcohol. In spite of having the whitest shirt ever seen, a shiniest hat, and fine clothes better than anyone in this town of Ohio, Huck’s father dismisses as inferior just has a dark complexion. The man also possesses a gold watch complete with a chain, but these do not awaken the drunken old man who is Huck’s father. He refers to him as the most awful gray headed person in that state (Twain, p.40). He utters that the black college professor should not be free, but should have been as a slave long time. To this drunken old man, race and racism is about stratification of society, so that those from whose origin is perceived to be inferior should be sold as slaves, and they have no business holding government jobs or looking smart. Because of the color of his skin, he considers himself superior to the intelligent professor.
In the face of racial abuse by Huck’s father, Jim shows Huck more kindness and affection by than what his really father showed him. They both stumble upon the dead body of the father of Huck, and Jim shields Huck to protect him from the searing pain that will come with seeing his father who is murdered. Thus, Jim embodies a loving, protective person who does good deeds to everyone without judging them with their skin color.
In “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, those with a dark complexion are accused of engaging in immoral activities. They are also associated with all the immorality happening around. Huck’s father comments that people of black ancestry are a “thieving” race. This comment represents the parallels the white people drew between the dark-skinned and immorality. In chapter 26d, Huck is busy spying on the King and the Duke so as to ascertain where the stolen money might be stashed, the two conmen involved exhibit similar racial prejudice as the father of Huck. They made a decision to change the location where they had hidden the money they had stolen because they have a feeling that the safety of the money is not assured, and risk of it being taken by the slaves who clean their room is there. They solely draw their conclusion by basing it to racial prejudice, for example, black people if they come across money they will not fail to borrow (Twain, p.299)
Another understanding of race and racism is that black people are categorized as children. In chapter 2, Huck and Jim are busy arranging show bills for one of the King’s and Duke’s con games, at the bottom of the bills, these can be read, “Admission 25 cents, children and servants, 10 cents,”(Twain, p.233). Servants majorly comprised the black people, and the pay of black will be similar to that of the children indicating wrong categorization.
For Mark Twain, race and racism shape pre-Civil war America and the post-Civil war America. The 13th to the constitution had ended slavery, but this did not guarantee equality for all the races, especially for the black people. Twain despised this situation, and this led to his book being published three decades later after its production. The setting of the book is an era when slavery was still practiced. In the story, Twain depicts a system that is long gone, to reveal to contemporary readers who thought that with the end of slavery things were better. This was an illusion, and the truth of the matter was things were still wrong. Pre-civil war America was characterized with racial tensions, abuse, and contempt. These were mainly directed at the blacks who were a minority. Race relations had improved after civil war, but retrogressive ideologies and laws seemed to bring back the oppression of the blacks.
In the ‘Dreamer’ Charles Johnson centrally puts Martin Luther King story. Martin Luther King was the greatest moral philosopher ever born in the United States. The narrator in the story is Mathew Bishop, a philosophy student, and Chaym Smith is introduced. This was a poor man who had misfortunes all his life. Chaym Smith is King’s look-alike, but essentially his attributes are the opposite of King’s. Here Johnson uses King’s body in a double manner, the real King and the fake one. This intended to represent the inequality that existed in America then, and the unpleasant lines along which inequality divided. Mathew Bishop and Chaym Smith represent ordinary black men who were born black in a white world full of dangers. Chaym Smith has an uncanny resemblance to King. For him, he understands race and racism as nothing but an illusion. This is demonstrated by the offer he places to act as a minister in a way that he will be useful. This show that, be believes that his race, economic standing, or background does not limit his capacity to serve as a minister. Smith also views the racial hatred that exists between races to be healthy, but the envy inherent among the blacks to be itself a disease. He agrees to King’s perception that in the eyes of the Lord all men are born on equal. When confronted with inequality caused by racism, King offers that he doesn’t have a choice not to love other people because he is one of them. It reasonable to care for others the way we do for ourselves because we are one people.
King understands race and racism as an artificially created thing. Racism brought about inequality that was artificially stitched into humanity inherent in people. He believes that despite the many differences that exist in men, people can decide to share the fate. He quips that human beings should work together to correct the inequalities that exist due to an accident or by chance.
Chaym Smith is an intelligent man and talented, but his intelligence and talents do not get a chance to be exhibited. He yearning to be in King’s position, but falls short of reaching this level. His failures lead him to be a person full of resentment and thus a threat to King and the movement he is leading. This friction between Smith and King depict the racism that is present in Chicago. In this novel, according to King, race has no definition, and it ought to be a subject of discussion because all of us were born equal. The best we can do is to be of value, working to uplift each other.
In Charles Johnson novel, race and racism shaped the social; tensions that existed between whites and blacks in the pre-civil war America. Racism led to blacks being sold as slaves and toiling in farms as laborers. It created an illusion of existence of more superior races than the others thus legitimizing the slave trade. In post-civil war, race and racism contributed to the persistence of inequality so prevalent in the American society. People from other relational groups prospered as the blacks lagged behind. King was unhappy with this situation and engaged in social activism to help black people be freed the bondage of inequality.
Twain, Mark. "Adventures OF Huckleberry Finn." 20 Aug. 2006. Web. 23 Nov. 2014. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/76/76-h/76-h.htm>.
