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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in James, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Speech, Performance, and Willful Ignorance
Identity, Narrative, and Agency
Racism, Dehumanization, and Hypocrisy
Innocence vs. Disillusionment
Family, Alliance, and Loyalty
Summary
Analysis
Jim—an enslaved Black man living in Missouri in the 1860s—listens as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn spy on him from the tall grass. Jim is waiting for his enslaver, Miss Watson, to bring him some corn bread from the kitchen. Knowing the boys love games, Jim speculates loudly about hearing a witch sneaking around the dark. He intentionally uses diction meant to make him seem less intelligent than he is, and he pretends to fall asleep. Tom suggests tying Jim up, but Huck is worried about getting in trouble. Tom steals a few of Miss Watson’s candles, leaving a nickel so she will not suspect Jim. He moves Jim’s hat as a joke, hoping the man will think a witch took it.
As an enslaved Black man, Jim has learned that fulfilling white expectations can only benefit him. Jim’s performance for Tom and Huck is self-deprecating and designed to entertain the boys. Incidentally, the act also conceals his own intelligence, making it easier for white people to dehumanize him. Huck’s concern that Jim will be blamed for the theft contrasts sharply with Tom’s flippant attitude and racist comments, characterizing him as empathetic. Tom’s prank shows that he considers Jim to be of lesser intelligence and views him as a source of amusement.
Themes
Tom and Huck run away as Miss Watson appears with the corn bread. She asks Jim if he or anyone else was in the kitchen, and he denies seeing anyone. Miss Watson also asks Jim if he has been in Judge Thatcher’s library. He laughs, wondering what she thinks he could do with a book. Jim returns home to find his wife, Sadie, and daughter, Lizzie waiting for him. The corn bread tastes terrible. Sadie tells Lizzie she doesn’t have to eat it, but Jim coaches his daughter on how to respond when Miss Watson asks how she liked it. He instructs her to use “correct incorrect grammar”—to preserve the illusion of her lesser intelligence.
Miss Watson’s attitude toward Jim is generally suspicious, suggesting she does not trust him. Jim endeavors to put her at ease by feigning simplicity, joking that he would not know what to do with a book. At home, he teaches Lizzie to prioritize white comfort over honesty, as keeping their enslavers happy is necessary for their own survival. The idea of “correct incorrect grammar” highlights how enslaved Black people perform ignorance in order to pacify white expectations and survive.
Themes
Jim joins the other enslaved men—Albert, Old Luke, and Doris—sitting around a fire. They discuss news of runaways from other farms and ask Jim for a story. He begins telling them about a dream that he was in New Orleans, but he shifts when Albert signals that white people are nearby. Hearing Tom and Huck again, Jim tells the men about how a witch moved his hat, switching to stereotypical slave dialect. He and the other men perform the rest of their conversation for the boys, who believe they’re hidden. Jim describes meeting a demon rooster in his dream, who told him he was a free man. He pretends to hear more witches in the bushes, scaring Huck and Tom away.
The men’s gathering exhibits the importance of community in oppressive environments. Their exchange of stories shows that they are fully aware of their plight, contradicting the white perception of Black passivity. Again, Jim performs for Tom and Huck, switching dialects to preserve the illusion of his own simplicity. That the enslaved men know they are being perceived contrasts with the boys’ lack of awareness, characterizing them and white society in general as naïve and unwilling to acknowledge the truth.
Themes
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The next morning, Jim is fixing Miss Watson’s loose step when Huck appears. Jim asks after Tom Sawyer, who Huck claims was out late “robbin’ banks and trains and such.” Jim can sense Huck’s irritation with his friend, as Tom always has to be the boss during their adventures. Huck asks where Jim learned so many skills, and Jim replies, “Necessity,” before amending his response to “’Cessity.” Unlike Jim, Huck does not need to worry about being beaten or sold if he does not do what he’s told. Huck thinks Miss Watson is crazy because she is always urging him to pray, which he finds ridiculous because he never gets anything he prays for.
Despite their significant differences, Jim empathizes with Huck’s irritation with Tom Sawyer, who always centers himself in their games. Jim’s self-editing shows he is constantly performing in the presence of white people, altering his vocabulary to fit their expectations of him. Huck’s conversation indicates an unusual fondness for Jim and exhibits how—to some extent—the boy is untouched by the racism of the larger world.
Themes
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Huck tells Jim that Tom made him and some other boys take a blood oath not to reveal gang secrets, but they used spit instead of blood. Jim remarks that Huck is telling their secrets right now, but the boy insists Jim is different, calling him a friend. Jim assures Huck that he can keep a secret. Miss Watson appears and chastises Huck for not making his bed. When the boy is gone, she tells Jim that Huck’s father is back in town, and she asks him to keep an eye on Huck. While Tom Sawyer is no real danger to Huck, his father is an abusive alcoholic. Jim does not know why Miss Watson is telling him all this.
While Jim assumes Huck shares his secrets with him because he is enslaved and therefore not actually “human,” Huck surprises him by calling him a friend, emphasizing his youthful innocence. Miss Watson’s fear for Huck’s safety, while warranted, confuses Jim, who is powerless to stop his own suffering let alone protect others. In this moment, it almost seems like Miss Watson recognizes Jim as a capable human being, but only when it is convenient for her.
Themes
