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Part 1, Chapter 10
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
Huck recalls Tom Sawyer’s story about a genie who lives in a lamp and grants three wishes to whoever discovers him. He asks what Jim would wish for. Jim has ruminated on this scenario before and concluded that any wish has the potential to cause negative consequences. He tells Huck that the genie must be white, as it is useless to wish for things he knows won’t happen. Huck would wish for adventure, and that all enslaved people were free. After the boy falls asleep, Jim realizes he can read the stolen books without fear, as even Huck will simply assume he is staring at the words rather than comprehending them. Reading a novel, Jim feels he has temporarily escaped his predicament.
Jim seems to view Huck’s question about the genie as (at best) a useless thought experiment or (at worst) a trap. Jim implies that Black people like himself know better than to wish, as it is futile to do so. His suffering has stripped him of hope, leaving him understandably disillusioned. Huck’s wishes further characterize him as childlike and empathetic. Jim’s realization that reading is an unobservable act done in the privacy of one’s mind amplifies his sense that reading is the one area where he can claim true freedom. In light of this, books become powerful tools synonymous with liberty.
Themes
