The value of a person cannot be morally judged necessarily by society’s views; but can, and should, only be judged by how they act and the person’s intentions behind their actions. Take Jim, for example, from Mark Twain’s Huck Finn. People in that society of that time viewed most blacks as thieving, or immoral. Jim did not fit into these criteria at all, but constructed something totally new and different, as we saw in bits and pieces through out the story.
Jim was first introduced simply as “Miss Watson’s nigger,” but once the story was through, we were able to see how more of a person Jim was more than just a slave. He had feelings and dreams just like anyone else does. Huck was discovering this throughout the story. Such as after Huck played the trick on Jim in the fog. Once Huck revealed that he had only played a trick on Jim, Huck sees that Jim is not just an object to be made fun of when he is reprimanded. “What do dey stan’ for? I’s gwyne to tell you. When I got all wore out wid work, en wid de callin’ for you, en went to sleep, my heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’ k’yer no’ mo’ what become er me en de raf’. En when I wake up en fine you back ag’in, all safe en soun’, de tears come, en I could ‘a’ got down on my knees en kiss yo’ foot, I’s so thankful. En all you wuz thinkin’ ‘bout wuz how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie. Dat truck dah is trash; en trash is what people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren’s en makes ‘em ashamed.”
Now this, simply put, is quite insightful on Jim’s part, disproving a lot of society’s misconceptions and generalizations of blacks at that time. In this single statement Jim has just proven that blacks have feelings, can care about people, and can be emotionally hurt, as well. It also shows that most of what he does, he does because of Huck. He says in the above quote that he didn’t care anymore what happened now that he believed Huck to be gone. And yet, by most he was still viewed with contempt simply because he was black.
All that Jim did, and all that he suffered, should go to prove, at least to some length, that worth and character cannot be judged simply by society’s views. One must examine the motives, the selflessness. One must see past looks and false beliefs, to be able to truly see the person at hand.
Back to English Essays.
