Quote 1
"Well, it's a blame ridicklous way, en I doan' want to hear no mo' 'bout it. Dey ain' no sense in it."
"Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?" (14.39, 14.40)
Jim can't believe that people speak different languages all over the world, since we're all the same. But if we're all the same, why are some of us enslaved? And why doesn't he seem to make that conceptual leap?
Quote 2
"Well, den, dis is de way it look to me, Huck. Ef it wuz HIM dat 'uz bein' sot free, en one er de boys wuz to git shot, would he say, 'Go on en save me, nemmine 'bout a doctor f'r to save dis one?' Is dat like Mars Tom Sawyer? Would he say dat? You BET he wouldn't! WELL, den, is JIM gywne to say it? No, sah—I doan' budge a step out'n dis place 'dout a DOCTOR, not if it's forty year!" (40.46)
Jim is pretty convinced that Tom would sacrifice his own freedom to save Jim. That's really noble of Jim, but we're not convinced that Tom's views on race are quite as progressive.
Quote 3
"Well, I b'lieve you, Huck. I—I RUN OFF."
"Jim!" (8.45, 8.46)
Pot, meet Kettle. Huck is outraged that Jim has run off, because apparently Huck doesn't remember that he's also run off. Why is it okay for Huck to escape an abusive situation and not Jim?
Quote 4
"But mind, you said you wouldn' tell—you know you said you wouldn' tell, Huck."
"Well, I did. I said I wouldn't, and I'll stick to it. Honest INJUN, I will. People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don't make no difference. I ain't a-going to tell, and I ain't a-going back there, anyways. So, now, le's know all about it." (8.52, 8.53)
Huck vs. the World, and it doesn't involve any do-overs. Meeting Jim thrusts him right into conflict with the ethical system he's used to… and kudos to Huck for standing up for the right.
Quote 5
"Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim" (16.16)
Oops. Well, gee. Now Huck can't tell on Jim, because Jim has made him feel super guilty—and also pointed out to us that, despite all the lies, Huck is probably the most moral person in the entire novel. Or maybe even in the entire pre-Civil War South.
"It's a dead man. Yes, indeedy; naked, too. He's ben shot in de back. I reck'n he's ben dead two er three days. Come in, Huck, but doan' look at his face—it's too gashly." (9.18)
Jim knows that this is Huck's dad, but he doesn't want Huck to see—so he lies. Is it right for Jim to lie? Or should he have told Huck?
Quote 7
"No! W'y, what has you lived on? But you got a gun. Oh, yes, you got a gun. Dat's good. Now you kill sumfn en I'll make up de fire." (8.39)
Check this out: Huck has the gun, and Jim has the fire. Alone, they're useless (although at least Jim would be warm.) But together, they have heat, food, and companionship—everything a guy needs, right?
Quote 8
"Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck? En you ain' dead—you ain' drownded—you's back agin? It's too good for true, honey, it's too good for true. Lemme look at you chile, lemme feel o' you. No, you ain' dead! you's back agin, 'live en soun', jis de same ole Huck—de same ole Huck, thanks to goodness!" (15.19)
Huck may have to be educated into friendship with Jim, but Jim seems to come by it naturally. Just check out his sweet way of talking: "honey," "chile," "same ole Huck"—we don't really know why Jim seems to like him so much, but it shows what a good friend he's ready to be.
Quote 9
"Pooty soon I'll be a-shout'n' for joy, en I'll say, it's all on accounts o' Huck; I's a free man, en I couldn't ever ben free ef it hadn' ben for Huck; Huck done it. Jim won't ever forgit you, Huck; you's de bes' fren' Jim's ever had; en you's de ONLY fren' ole Jim's got now." (16.14)
Huck is the only white man who's ever kept his promises to Jim, and to Jim, that makes Huck his best friend. We have to agree. Loyalty is definitely one of the most important qualities of a friend—but is it the only one?