Friendship

Chapter 8

It is in this chapter that we first look at the relationship between Huck and Jim.

As I look at the premise that Jim is mentoring Huck in the art of spiritual awakening, I want to be careful not to see that Huck is having a similar affect on Jim. It seems that, in this chapter, Huck is the one who is showing some degree of love, or at least friendship when he encounters Jim, promises not to turn him in, and is concerned that he hasn't eaten anything but strawberries since he arrived on the island.

Looking at the sequence:

Huck remarks, when he first sees that Jim is on the island with him by the campfire:
"I bet I was glad to see him."

Jim, thinking he is seeing a ghost, after asking the ghost to leave him alone, remarks:

'...'at 'uz awluz yo' fren'." (what was always your friend)

Huck proceeds to convince Jim that he isn't dead. This is not Tom Sawyer, who probably would have played along for awhile. We don't see that cruel streak in Huck, and probably won't.

Then he says:
"I was ever so glad to see Jim."
and
"I warn't lonesome, now."
and
"I told him I warn't afraid of him telling the people where I was." The italics are Twain's.

Then there is an exchange about what Jim has eaten, which culminates with Huck's concern:
"Well, you must be most starved, ain't you?"

Huck then proceeds to share all that he has, bacon, sugar, coffee, etc.

So, up until this point the exchange is that Huck is happy to see Jim; he needs companionship. He is happy to share what he has. He is concerned about Jim's hunger. He trusts that Jim won't betray Huck's deception about his fake death.

Why is this? Is there a prior history here? Jim has said that he has always Huck's friend. Or is this the first we see that Huck has a deeper self that sees Jim as a human being? Is Huck falsely pretending to care for Jim because he needs a companion?
I guess I don't buy it. Huck was doing perfectly fine by himself. He doesn't need a companion, or at least we think he doesn't given it's still early in his adventurous escape.
Of course there is the argument that he's glad that Jim is not an enemy. There is relief that Jim is not a stranger. But could that account for such generosity and concern?

Now comes the first test of this 'friendship':

Jim reveals to Huck that he has escaped, and is now a runaway slave.

Jim reminds Huck that just minutes before he has promised to keep what Jim is about to tell him a secret.

Huck says:
"Well I did. I said I wouldn't and I'll stick to it. Honest injun I will. People would call me a low down Ablitionist and despise me for keeping mum - but that don't make no difference. I ain't agoing to tell, and I ain't agoing back there anyways."

So we have two ways to look at this:
First, the integrity of giving your word. Huck didn't know what the story was when he promised not to tell. When the story was revealed, a slave that had run away, Huck could have said that even though he promised, the story was sufficiently bad enough that Huck could not keep his promise.

So is Huck keeping his word because he had promised, or is this Huck's first test about what he considers to be an injustice?

First of all, Huck sees his own story here. He has escaped himself, probably from death. He has this in common with Jim now.

And I think more importantly, we already have seen evidence that Huck sees Jim as a fellow human being, concerned for his health. Now he is concerned for his freedom.

It may be too early to draw this conclusion.

Continuing the development of the friendship:

Jim tells the story of his escape. Something Huck can appreciate.
There is more discussion about superstitions.
Jim then tells how he lost his riches ($14) to speculation.

So this long discussion of adventures and life's lessons draws us closer into the companionship that has been revealed.

Finally, there is this statement by Jim after Huck remarks that perhaps Jim will be rich again:

"Yes- en I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns myself, en I's wuth eight hund'd dollars." (Miss Watson was going to sell him for that much)

There is a whole basket of emotions in reading that statement. The sadness that a human is valued in dollars. The pride in Jim that he is worth so much. The humor in the juxtaposition of the two.

Chapter 11
Time for Huck to show concern for his friend. When he sneaks away to town dressed as a girl, the old lady in the shack tells him that the town thinks that either Pap or Jim murdered Huck. Huck is horrified, and has trouble concealing it. The nature of his questions, "are they going over tonight" referring to her husbands desire to hunt Jim on Jackson's Island, gives him away.

Chapter 16
Huck receives two twenty dollar gold pieces from the men on a skiff who don't want to help Huck and 'his pap' because they suspect they have smallpox. Huck doesn't 'give' Jim money. He simply states that they had twenty dollars 'apiece'.