huck finn help?

Question

when are the turning points for huck and jim? im thinking jim is when he tells huck not to look at the dead body which happens to be the father? is that right? and what is hucks turning point? also does huck/jims relationship eliminate racial differences or is that what define it?

Answer 1

I'm an old person, been a long time since I read the book.

But I remember some other turning points, too. One is when Jim realizes that the raft is headed "down river" -- towards the Deep South, and not turning up the Ohio River. That means Jim as an escaped slave is heading in exactly the direction he doesn't want to go. Heading in a direction where if he's recaptured as a slave, he'll be put to work on a cotton plantation under the most back-breaking conditions imaginable.

I don't think Mark Twain says much explicitly about "going down river" as a concept -- but if you look for it, Jim's terror at the prospect is real, and it's a way for Twain to comment indirectly on how bad Deep South slavery was.

There's another turning point later in the book, I think -- can't remember just when or where. But Huck has played some dirty trick on Jim - I think Huck is pretending to be dead or something -- and Jim discovers it and really challenges Huck for doing it. Saying (I think - you should check to be sure) that how could Huck do this to him, doesn't he realize that Jim is someone who loves him and cares about him, and doesn't he realize how being tricked like this makes Jim feel, etc.

Some critics have looked at this and other passages as indications that Huck and Jim have some kind of gay sexual relationship, I believe. Don't know if I agree with that. But at any rate, Jim in this passage is forcing Huck to confront his (Jim's) humanity and the reality of his feelings. He's saying I'm not just a slave, not just a funny old darkie that you get to make fun of; I'm a person and you need to respect that.

Here is one place when the relationship crosses or transcends the racial divide, I think - where Huck has to face the fact that Jim is another human being.

That's as I remember the book. But check for yourself. And good luck with the paper, if you're writing one.

Answer 2

Who is Jim? There are three main characters, Huck, Tom, and Joe. Is there a new version that has Tom called Jim?
The main turning point for Huck is when he decides to help free Joe whether or not he goes to hell. For Tom the whole thing is just a lark. Joe had already been manumitted by his owner, but Tom wants to make a drama out of it--and he does.
I love the duke and the dauphin. They are such scoundrels but amazing funny.