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Part 2, Chapter 9
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 drags Huck onto the beach, having saved his life. He shoves the boy toward the woods, out of sight of the other survivors. Huck tells Jim about the rumored war between the northern and southern states. The King and the Duke were with him on the boat, trying to escape to Ohio before fighting broke out. Huck asks Jim about Norman, who was calling to him in the water and has probably drowned. He asks repeatedly why Jim chose to save him instead. Fed up with slave diction and tired of the lies, Jim admits that he saved Huck because Huck is Jim’s son. Huck is confused, but Jim is too exhausted to explain and falls asleep. When he wakes, Huck interrogates him.
It is worth noting that the white people on the boat are more worried about the war than Jim, though enslavement is supposedly the inciting issue for the conflict. Jim’s indifference points again to his lack of faith in legal avenues toward freedom, preferring to make his own way there. Jim’s weariness implies that his performance is unsustainable, and he gives it up. While the reveal that Jim is Huck’s biological father explains why he chose to save the boy instead of Norman, it raises questions about Jim’s reasons for keeping this secret and the extent of his loyalty.
Themes
Huck asks if Pap knew the truth of his paternity, and he wants to know if he is an n-word. Jim assures Huck he can be whatever he wants to be, and reveals that Pap was the dead body in the house. All these secrets, combined with Jim’s shifting speech, make Huck conclude Jim is a liar. Later, Huck tries using slave diction, but he sounds ridiculous. Jim says Huck can continue to live as a white boy, that he does not have to help Jim rescue the rest of his family. When Huck asks why he should believe anything Jim says, Jim tells him, “Belief has nothing to do with truth.” Huck calls Jim a liar and declares that he is not an n-word.
Learning the truth of his parentage pushes Huck into an identity crisis, unsure whether he is white or Black. Jim affirms Huck’s ability to choose his own identity, encouraging the boy to embrace the autonomy he himself has had to fight for. Huck feels that Jim has betrayed him by keeping secrets, even if those secrets protected him from suffering. The boy’s attempts to speak like Jim hint at his deep desire for belonging, which makes Jim’s indifference to Huck’s decision (whether to live as a white or Black boy) painful. Jim’s statement about belief can be read as a reflection on the way white people in particular deny unpleasant truths (like Black intelligence), as well as a directive that Huck do the same with regards to his identity. That Huck uses a hateful slur reveals his confusion and pain and suggests he has lost some more of his youthful innocence.
Themes
