Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Percival Everett's James. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
James: Introduction
James: Plot Summary
James: Detailed Summary & Analysis
James: Themes
James: Quotes
James: Characters
James: Symbols
James: Theme Wheel
Brief Biography of Percival Everett
Historical Context of James
Other Books Related to James
- Full Title: James
- Where Written: United States
- When Published: 2024
- Literary Period: Contemporary
- Genre: Novel, Historical Fiction, Satire
- Setting: 1860s United States
- Climax: James reveals to Judge Thatcher that he can read and forces the judge to assist him in finding his family.
- Antagonist: The institution of slavery; anti-Black racism
- Point of View: First Person
Extra Credit for James
Own Voices. Everett did not write James (2024) to address any deficiencies in Huckleberry Finn (1885), but instead imagines himself in conversation with Twain. By writing Jim’s perspective, Everett accesses a side of the story that was unavailable to Twain as a white man.
Coded Language. In interviews, Everett frequently mentions his belief that oppressed people always find a way to communicate to each other in ways their oppressors cannot understand. He takes issue with the movie 12 Years a Slave (2013) for the way its main character—a free Black man raised in the North—is able to understand the enslaved Black people he finds himself imprisoned alongside, insisting they would speak in their own coded language.