[F] Ezra: Chapters 14-16

Chapters 14-16 are the first chapters in which we finally get a sense of Jim’s character, including his intelligence, his relationship with Huck, his family, etc. The three chapters play off each other more then any other chapters before, and foreshadow what is to come. In chapter 14 we get a better sense of Jim’s intelligence when he has a verbal argument with Huck about King Solomon. Jim refuses to believe that King Solomon was a wise man because he wanted to cut a baby in half and does not realize the meaning of it. Huck never tells Jim what the real meaning of the story is, but only says that he is wrong and implies that he feels Jim is stupid.

Huck lets the argument go because he knows he can’t get anywhere with it but then the two talk about the French. Huck tries to simplify for Jim the reason why the French do not speak English. The conversation makes Jim sound almost like a child, or maybe even a slave. At the end of the chapter Huck ends the argument by saying, “I see it warn’t no use wasting words-you can’t learn a nigger to argue.” When I read this it seemed to me that Huck felt that he was better then Jim almost like a master and a slave. To me this section posed the question of whether Huck saw Jim as an equal and maybe even a father figure, or if he was just a slave.

In chapter 15 Huck accidentally lets go of the raft while trying to tie it up and it floats away with all of the belongings and Jim. It seemed odd to me though, because when this happened Twain mentions nothing about Jim trying to paddle to Huck, or trying to slow himself down. Twain does not even mention Jim till Huck makes noises to try to locate him. It is only then that Twain talks about Jim. Another interesting thing was that Twain puts a lot of seemingly unnecessary detail in this chapter about how hard it is for Huck to locate Jim, why would he put so much detail into something that seems so unnecessary?

It is in this chapter that the relationship between Huck and Jim changes. After Huck plays the joke on Jim he says it took him 15 minutes to get up the courage to say sorry to a “nigger.” It is obvious that he feels more important then Jim and thinks that Jim is even less human then him.

It is in chapter 16 that Huck makes it obvious that he feels that Jim and he are not friends but slave and master. Huck feels bad not for Jim for being a slave, but feels bad for himself and for the Misses for letting a slave go free. It is also interesting because in this chapter we see that this relationship changes a little, and you almost begin to think that Huck actually does have a heart. He is unintentionally guilt tripped by Jim to make him feel bad, and in turn become friends again.