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Huck demonstrates his loyalty when he befriends Jim. This becomes evident when he realizes that he cannot tell the others of Jim's whereabouts. Huck struggles over telling the truth of telling a lie. He cannot reach an acceptable answer at the time and thus determines to do "whichever come handiest at the time" (Twain 307). Huck does eventually lies for his friend later in the novel - an indication that he is more human than the adults that attempted to raise him. He rationalizes lying by saying:
Then I thought a minute and says to myself, hold on, --s'pose you'd done a right and give Jim up; would you feel better than what you do now? No, says I, I'd feel bad -- I'd feel just the same way I do now. Well, then, says I, what's the use of you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages just the same?" (307).
In addition, he decides that it would be better to go to hell than to tell on his friend. For a young boy raised on racism in a culture drenched in deep religious guilt, he comes to see the light rather quickly.
However, the poignancy of the relationship is revealed through Jim's interaction with Huck.
He tells the young boy that he is the "bes' fren'" (305) he has ever known and the only friend he has after he runs away. Like Tom, Jim is the eldest in each relationship and is therefore more aware of what is going on around him. He knows the repercussions of befriending a slave and this makes him appreciate Huck even more. Jim needs Huck's friendship but he has been conditioned by society to put those types of things...
While we live in a society that is not very trusting we must remember that these novels take place at a time when race relations were, at the best, heavily strained. Eva is smothered my her mother's opinions but she does not let that hinder her affection for tom. Similiarly, Huck grows close to Jim, regardless of what he has been taught. It takes children to see with eyes of innocence to force us to see that a person' age, color, or gender have little to do with the individual. Eva and Huck are examples of how we should be but their stories also force us to see how society shapes and molds people even when it is not exactly intended. Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn represent the problems caused by national identity and the problems associated with it. They also represent the fact that genuine friendship cannot be bound by any limitations and this is the wonder of life.
Works Cited
Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lauter, Paul, ed. Massachusetts D.C. Heath and Company. 1990.
Stowe, Harriet. Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York: Bantam Books. 1989.
Works Cited
Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lauter, Paul, ed. Massachusetts D.C. Heath and Company. 1990.
Stowe, Harriet. Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York: Bantam Books. 1989.
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