王春芳
上海政法学院语言文化学院 上海 201701
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of Mark Twain’s masterpieces. As one of America’s first and foremost realists and humorists, Mark Twain, usually wrote about his own personal experiences and things he knew about from firsthand experience. At his heart of Twain’s achievement is his creation of Huckleberry Finn who embody the mystic America。
The protagonist Huckleberry Finn is a veritable recreation of several living models. The portrayal of this character achieves intense verisimilitude in details. Mark Twain demonstrated his attitudes towards and revealed his thoughts about the world through the narration of Huckleberry Finn. As a critical realist, he wrote out of deeply felt concern about the question of personal freedom and the limitations which society places on the individual. This paper attempts to expound the features of realism use in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Whether the fiction is successful depends on whether the protagonist which has been created is successful or not. A great protagonist is the prerequisite of a great fiction. And what’s the prerequisite of a great protagonist or say what does a great protagonist come from? The answer is the simulation of memory, observation and imagination. “Mark twain, the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, usually wrote about his own personal experiences and things he know about from firsthand experience. At the heart of Twain’s achievement is his creation of Tom sawyer and Huck Finn, who embody the mystic America.”1 Mark Twain has successfully created many vivid characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which make the fiction so great that the fiction is regarded as the father of the America’s modernism fiction. Among all these vivid characters, Mark Twain chooses the Huck and the Jim, a white and a black, as the protagonists. Great contrast and a large number of conflicts exist during the whole story. Huck represents the white and Jim represents the black.
Jim was the second protagonist of the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A nigger runs away in order not to be sold again. In the Jackson’s island, he met with Huck, and started the adventures. Jim’s kindness and emotion finally made Huck decide to save him out of slavery. And finally he succeeded.
In the fiction, Mark Twain mainly described Jim through his talking with people. Jim emerged through this paragraph. “Say, who is you? Whar is you? Dog my cats ef I didn’t hear sumf’n. Well, I what I’s gwyne to do: I’s gwyne to set down here and listen till I hears it agin.”(Twain, 2003: 06) It was sure that Jim must be a person without education and was not born in America although there is not introduction about Jim. And Twain used that kind of language in Jim’s talking in the whole fiction. “I doan k’yer what de wider say, he warn’t no wise man nuther. He had some er de dad-fethedes’ ways I ever see. Does you know’ bout dat chile dat he’ uz gwyne to chop in two?”(Twain, 2003: 106) “What makes me feel so bad dis time’s uz bekase I hear wumpn over yonder on de bank like a whack, er a slam, while ago, en it mine me er de time I treat my little’ Lizabeth so ornery.”(Twain, 2003: 210) The purposive mistakes of spell and substandard grammar had illustrated the identity of Jim. Also it hinted the background of that time in America and greatly helped to build the personality of Jim, a kind and honest nigger.
In order to build the personality of Jim, Twain not only used the substandard language, but also emphasized on the conversation itself. “Well, I’uz gwyne to spen’ it, but I had a dream, en de dream tole me to give it to a nigger name’ Balum – Balum’ Ass dey call him for short ; he’s one er dem chuckleheads, you know. But he’s lucky, dey say, en I see warn’t lucky. De dream say let Balum inves’ de ten cents en he’d ake a raise for me. Well, Balum he tuck de money.”(Twain, 2003: 64) This nigger appeared to be superstitious. He thought the dreams were the indications of the god, what he should do was to follow it. Jim looked like a ignorant nigger and did not have the principle of his own. Actually, that’s not true. “Who? Me? Go’long. Doan’ talk to me bout yo’;ints. I reck’n I knows sense when I sees it; eb det ain’ no sense in sich doin’s as dat. De’spute warn’t bout a half a chile, de’ spute was ‘bout a whole chile; en de man dat think he kin settle a’spute’bout a whole chile wid a half a chile doan’ know enough to come in out’n de rain.”(Twain, 2003: 107) Jim had his own view on the matters in the world. He can tell the difference between good and bad. Moreover he is an honest nigger with a frank and pure heart. He can’t bear the ridiculous principle. On another hand, he is the man with passion. During the adventures, Jim had established a steady friendship with Huck. He considered Huck as his true friend and loved him. “Pooty soon I’ll be a shout’n for joy, en I’ll say, it’s all on accounts o’ Huck; I’s a free man, en I couldn’t ever ben free ef it hadn’t ben for Huck; Huck done it. Jim won’t ever forgit you, Huck; you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had; en you’s de only fren’ ole Jim’s got now.”(Twain, 2003: 122) When this nigger began to know that he may become free, what he firstly could think was to express his gratitude to Huck. This sincere friendship with Huck had got rid of the race. The kindness of the nigger toughed Huck a lot and engaged him to saved Jim for many times.
Twain also used the indirect description to build Jim. From Huck, “But somehow I couldn’t seem to strike no place to harden me against him, but only the other kind. I’d see him standing watch on top of his ‘n, stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog, and pet me and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was; and at last I stuck the time I saved him by telling the men we had small-pox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he’s got now;”(Twain, 2003: 289) Jim was a nigger of kindness. Everything he had thought of for Huck was memorized by Huck and established the steady friendship. His kindness had made him become one of Huck’s best friends, and won the respect. From the doctor who treated Tom sawyer, “Don’t be no rougher on him than you’re obliged to, because he ain’t a bad nigger. When I got to where I found the boy I see I couldn’t cut the bullet out without help, and he warn’t in no condition for me to leave to go and get help; and he got a little worse and a little worse, and wouldn’t let me come a-nigh him any more; and the minute I says it out crawls this nigger from somewhere and says he’ll help, and he done it, too, and done it very well; and I never see a nigger that was a better nuss or faithfuller, and yet he was risking his freedom to do it, and was all tried out, too.” (Twain, 2003: 384) Jim was brave and faithful. He would rather be caught to be a slave than to see the friend dying without dong anything. Twain used this kind of description to build a kind, brave and grateful Jim instead of using the description on psychology of Jim.
Through the substandard language, the conversation of Jim and the indirect description, Twain had successfully built a vivid Jim who represented the black.
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