AHF free write. Question 8: Jim's character as Huck's father.

I agree that Jim is a father figure to Huck. It's by Huck's relationship with Jim that he begins to grow and mature, which continues throughout the novel. Huck learns the basic morals for the treatment of people and the wisdom to discern what is right or wrong in a situation by Jim's guidance. Though some argue that Jim is portrayed as naive and uneducated (which is true by the society's standards), he passes on important wisdom to Huck.

One of the first instances of this is when Huck playfully puts a snakeskin by Jim while he sleeps. Though only seeing it as a childish game, Jim's life is risked when another snake nearly kills him. It's in this scene that Huck realizes that playing with someone's emotions in a teasing way is not as fun as it may seem to be. Though he joined in with Tom Sawyer at the beginning of the novel to trick Jim and make fun of his naivety, this experience makes him realize the seriousness of his actions and the responsibility he must take. It is more Jim's response to the attack that Huck respects. Rather than lashing out at him or getting angry, Jim gives him to how he can help the swelling go down. This response was one Huck wasn't used to getting from abusive Pap or the austere widow.

When Huck and Jim begin their adventure on the river, there is a time when Huck gets lost in the fog and tricks Jim into believing that he was with him on the raft the entire time-though he wasn't. The reader can see the care Jim has for Huck when he gets angry and disappointed with Huck for frightening him. Huck also realizes that Jim has real concern for him and Jim sees it as his responsibility to protect him. Jim explains to Huck the importance of friendship and how anyone who would treat someone the way Huck treated him was "trash". This is also very different from how Pap would have reacted since he was only concerned about money entitled to Huck and the widow only saw Huck's reformation as her goal. In this way Jim is in more of a parental position over Huck than his legal guardians. A special bond developed between Huck and Jim at this point in the novel as Jim displays his feelings for the first time and Huck genuinely feels sorry for the way he treated Jim.