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Part 1, Chapter 5
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 falls into fever dreams from the snake bite. He sees Sadie and Lizzie, and Judge Thatcher’s library, where he has spent many hours secretly learning to read. Jim wonders what white people would do to someone like him, who has taught other slaves to read. He hallucinates the French writer Voltaire sitting by the fire. Voltaire claims that all men are equal, but undercuts that statement by asserting that Europeans have achieved the “more perfect human form.” Jim debates Voltaire, drawing attention to the ways he contradicts himself. Jim hates Voltaire for the way he treats slavery as a philosophical concept rather than a cruel reality. Voltaire attempts to steal Jim’s ideas.
Jim’s hidden literacy is another aspect of his performance for white people, who would be disturbed if they knew he could read, as it exposes his intelligence and, therefore, his humanity. Reading has given Jim some freedom from his enslavement, as he can engage with the philosophical ideas of typically unapproachable white men, like Voltaire. Jim’s frustration with Voltaire stems from the writer’s hypocritical assertions about equality and the aloofness with which he discusses slavery, emphasizing that it does not personally affect his reality. That the famous philosopher attempts to copy Jim’s words down on paper indicates Jim’s low opinion of the man.
Themes
Huck wakes Jim, who is feeling less feverish. The boy tells Jim he talks funny in his sleep, and asks him what “hierarchy” means. Jim plays his sleep-talking off as possession, since snakes are associated with the devil. Huck goes out in search of berries, leaving Jim alone, wracked with more chills. Jim is afraid to sleep again, worried he will slip out of slave speech where Huck can hear him. He is frustrated by the imagined debate with Voltaire and ponders how his supposed “equals” must make the case for his equality, as if he cannot do it himself. Huck returns with blackberries and tends to the fire.
Jim’s shifting speech patterns draw attention to how frustrating it is for him to keep such a large part of himself—his significant intelligence—a secret in order to make his oppressors comfortable. Thinking again of Voltaire, Jim seems to wish he could argue the case for his equality himself, since he would surely do a better job. The fact that he is unable to display his intellect is evidence alone that white society at large denies him human equality.
Themes
