Huck and Jim

In class today there was the discussion about the relationship shared between Huckleberry Finn and his slave friend Jim. An aspect that’s peculiar in this relationship is that for the time setting of the novel a friendship between a black man and a white boy may seem out of question. Yet I believe that what is behind this relationship is more than just a friendship, but a need for human companionship. Like Dr. Larson expressed today in class, there is no worst feeling for a human being than to feel a loneliness and solitude that was not chosen. And we saw this in Huck during the first part of the book. We see that he dislikes being alone and when he indeed finds himself in that situation he has the need to go out and do something or change of scene because he does not feel comfortable anymore, yet the problem isn’t the place or the people but Huck’s own psyche with coping with solitude. This brings us to Jim. For Huck, in a way, Jim is convenient for him since he provides not only a friendship but a sort of constant care that he has not received from a male figure in his life. This is why, when Huck seems to have lights of acknowledging this situation, he feels torn about what he should feel and what society regards as being right. For it is obvious that a friendship such as that is not to exist within Huck’s world. This may also be why Huck refuses to adapt to the societal norms and feels that they are nuisances and prefers to be uncivilized. This is an in depth look at the situation which can possibly be reflected on with many other cases that are known in society as non proper such as the rich girl and the poor man and so on. Despite the implications of their friendship and the barriers they encounter, they seem to be constant to each other providing that which the other needs or lacks, for Huck it’s the father figure willing to look out and provide for him and for Jim its another son, a boy who has not betrayed him to the authorities and this owes him loyalty.