Chapter 31- End

In chapter 31, the opportunity arises for Huck to make his escape back to the to the raft - and Jim - so that they can run away. When he actually gets to the raft, Jim is nowhere in sight. Cue the worrying. A random townsperson tells Huck that a runaway slave was caught and sold for forty dollars. (Cheap, huh?) Common sense tells Huck this slave has to be Jim. Huck is torn in the situation. Option A: He writes to Miss Watson and she gets angry that he helped “steal” Jim. Option B: -Insert conflicted face here- Huck eventually decides to go get Jim. This is the exact moment that his character development is clear. He is no longer having a battle between his idea of right and what other’s idea of right is: rescuing Jim is the right thing. Social responsibility is no longer on his mind because all he knows is that Jim is in trouble and he needs to help him. This is the moment we’ve waited for the whole novel - the point in which Huck decides, “To hell with society and racism! Jim needs help and I’m going to help him!” (Not his exact words, but whatever.)

Chapters 23-30

These chapters revealed several details about Jim’s life and his family. I think Jim may also being going through a battle of social responsibility himself. On one hand, it is typically a man’s right to support and protect his family. By running away, he is running away from his responsibilities as a man and as a father. He has expressed this guilt festering inside him by replaying the time he hit his daughter over and over again in his head. Although running away is leading him to a life of freedom, he won’t be that free without his family. I think he’s questioning his role in society. With all this free time of thinking and having actual time to sort his thoughts, Jim is questioning everything and anything. He knows it is not his social responsibility to be a slave to white people, but is that something you have to do in order to protect your family?