Huck Finns Identity essays

Huck Finn's Identity essays Identity is that which sets us apart from each other. Everyone must find his or her own personal identity. This is a process through which one discovers who they are and why they are the way they are. One of many themes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the search for identity. In Twains novel, Huck finds Jims identity and in the process he discovers his own. At first, Jims identity is presented plainly to Huckleberry as a stereotypical black slave. Jim is filled with superstition that appears to be a reflection of the ignorance that develops from a life of slavery. Slaves are supposed to be emotionless, yet he exhibits many emotions typically restricted to whites at the time. Huck sees this in him and gradually he starts to believe that Jim is more white underneath. Jim, Huck later realizes, is a heroic figure in a world consisting of liars, cheats, and scoundrels. Jim always does the right thing if he can; he always feels empathy for others even if those people show no such emotions for him. The incident at the end of the novel when he saves Tom and risks what he believes to be his own freedom is a case in point. This further sparks Huckleberrys notion that Jim is just as good as any man, if not in some cases better. With this realization, the reader can see Huck slowly letting go what society has taught him and choosing his own identity. To some extent Huckleberry cannot grasp Jims complete identity. There are some things that Huckleberry is oblivious to in the sense that he is only a child. One quality that Huck fails to identify is how much Jim is like a father. Jim is the leader during the travel down the river. He is the one who knows all the signs of weather; it is he who makes their journey a success. An example being when Jim throws rags over the corpse on the houseboat to protect Huck from seeing it. Jim's maturity is displayed by his reaction to the in...