Huck Finn - Jim :: essays research papers

Throughout all of his adventures Jim shows compassion as his most prominent trait. He makes the proofreader aware of his many superstitions and Jim exhibits gullibility in the sense that he Jim always assumes the other characters in the book will not take advantage of him. One incident proving that Jim acts naive occurs halfway through the novel, when the Duke first comes into the cyclorama & angstromquotBy right I am a duke Jims eyes bugged out when he heard that...& adenylic acidquot In the novel, huck Finn, one can legitimately prove that compassion, superstitious and gullibility illustrate Jims character perfectly. To begin with, among the many characteristics of Jim, his compassionate nature shows throughout the book. When huckaback and Jim come across the floating boathouse, Jim finds a dead man inside. He advises huckaback not to look as he says, &quotIts a dead man... dead two er three days... come in Huck, but doan look at his face.&quot At the end of the book the reader finds out that the dead man turns out as Hucks father. Further on down the river, Huck and Jim engage in a complex conversation. Jim speaks of the family he feels he has left behind. Jim tries hard to save up all his money in hopes of buying back his wife and children when he becomes a dethaw man. He expresses that he feels terrible for leaving behind his family and misses them very much. As a result, Huck feels responsible and guilty for ruining Jims freedom. Huck decides that he wants to reveal the truth, that Jim really isnt a free man. His conscience tells him not to and instead he finds himself helping Jim rather than giving him up. Jim feels so thankful to Huck when he says ". . .its all on account of Huck, Is a free man, ... yous the best friend Jims ever had...&quot Even further along, Huck becomes separated from Jim and living at the Grangerfords. Huck doesnt know if hell ever see Jim again. He also doesnt realize Jim has found a hiding spot not very far aw ay. He asks one of the Grangferfords slaves about Hucks creator and how well the lifestyle of the Grangerfords suites him. A slave reunites Jim and Huck and Huck proceeds to ask, &quotWhy didnt you tell my Jack to fetch me here sooner, Jim?&quot Jim replies, &quotWell, twarnt no use to sturb you, Huck.