How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Can't, Mars Tom. Ole missis, she tole me I got to go an' git dis water an' not stop foolin' roun' wid anybody." (2.5)
Twain's use of dialect emphasizes the differences between Jim, a slave, and Tom. Is Twain simply attempting to accurately render different dialects here, or is he exaggerating Jim's way of speaking?
Quote #2
"Well, what of it? They'll all lie. Leastways all but the n*****. I don't know him. But I never see a n***** that wouldn't lie. Shucks!" (6.65)
Though Tom seems to have no problems with interacting with black slaves – he even learns how to whistle from one – he still distrusts them and doesn't seem them as individual. He seems to assume that all black people are the same.
Quote #3
"Say Huck, I know another o' them voices; it's Injun Joe."
"That's so—that murderin' half-breed! I'd ruther they was devils, a dern sight." (9.38)
Listening to Huck and Tom, it's hard to know if they fear Injun Joe because he's a murderer or because he's a so-called "half-breed"; whether it's because of Joe's reputation or the reputation of people like Injun Joe.
Quote #4
"Did you think I'd forget? The Injun blood ain't in me for nothing. And now I've got you, and you got to settle, you know!" (9.48)
Injun Joe seems to use stereotypes about his race as a justification for his actions; they offer an excuse for his rage.
Quote #5
"O, lordy, I'm thankful!" whispered Tom. "I know his voice. It's Bull Harbison."
(Note: If Mr. Harbison had owned a slave named Bull, Tom would have spoken of him as "Harbison's Bull," but a son or a dog of that name was "Bull Harbison.") (10.42-43)
Here, something as simple as a naming system emphasizes how demeaning slavery is; slaves, we are told, are referred to like possessions, while dogs are named like sons.
Quote #6
The first of all the n***o minstrel shows came to town, and made a sensation. Tom and Joe Harper got up a band of performers and were happy for two days. (22.4)
Tom and Joe live at a time when African Americans were not only forced into slavery, but were demeaned for the purposes of entertainment.
Quote #7
"That's all right. Now, where you going to sleep?"
"In Ben Rogers's hayloft. He lets me, and so does his pap's n***** man, Uncle Jake. I tote water for Uncle Jake whenever he wants me to, and any time I ask him he gives me a little something to eat if he can spare it. That's a mighty good n*****, Tom. He likes me, becuz I don't ever act as if I was above him. Sometime I've set right down and eat with him. But you needn't tell that. A body's got to do things when he's awful hungry he wouldn't want to do as a steady thing." (28.31-32)
Here, Huck demonstrates that he is both conscious of racial divisions and that he is able to look past them.
Quote #8
"It ain't the millionth part of it! He had me horsewhipped!—horsewhipped in front of the jail, like a n*****!—and with all the town looking on." (29.30)
Here, Injun Joe shows that he is conscious of his own racial identity and they do suggest that he has been a victim of prejudice.
Quote #9
""It's all plain enough, now. When you talked about notching ears and slitting noses I judged that that was your own embellishment, because white men don't take that sort of revenge. But an Injun! That's a different matter altogether." (30.36)
The Welshman shows just how deeply ingrained racial prejudices can be.