James

by

Percival Everett

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on James makes teaching easy.

The King Character Analysis

The King is an elderly conman who claims he is Dauphin, the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and the rightful king of France. He joins Huck, Jim, and the Duke after he is run out of the town where he has been preaching the evils of drinking, having been discovered partaking in alcohol himself. The King is manipulative and crafty. He and the Duke come up with the plan to sell Jim repeatedly.

The King Quotes in James

The James quotes below are all either spoken by The King or refer to The King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Speech, Performance, and Willful Ignorance Theme Icon
).
Part 1, Chapter 18 Quotes

I could believe it, I thought, pretending, in slave fashion, not to be there. After being cruel, the most notable white attribute was gullibility. As evidenced by Huck’s reaction. He said, “You fellers are amazin’.”

Related Characters: James (Jim) (speaker), Huck (speaker), The Duke, The King
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 21 Quotes

“Yes, but them people liked it, Jim. Did you see their faces? They had to know them was lies, but they wanted to believe. What do you make of that?”

“Folks be funny lak dat. Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ‘em.”

[…]

“I reckon I do that, too,” the boy said.

“What say?”

“I kin see how much you miss yer family and yet I don’t think about it. I forget that you feel things jest like I feel. I know you love them.”

“Thank you, Huck.”

Related Characters: James (Jim) (speaker), Huck (speaker), The Duke, The King
Page Number: 126-127
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 22 Quotes

The Duke swung his belt and caught me at my knees. It did hurt. He laughed and did it again. I didn’t wince.

“You see that?” the King said. “I say, did you see that? They don’t even feel like no human man.”

[…]

“Don’t tear him up too much,” the King said. “We gotta be able to sell him. We cain’t get a dime fer him if’n he’s torn all asunder.”

“Hell, man,” the Duke said. “He ain’t no proper people. He don’t feel pain like we do. He need a lesson he kin remember. Nextwise, he’ll get it into his head to run again. That’s the way these creatures is built.”

Related Characters: The Duke (speaker), The King (speaker), James (Jim), Huck
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire James LitChart as a printable PDF.
James PDF

The King Quotes in James

The James quotes below are all either spoken by The King or refer to The King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Speech, Performance, and Willful Ignorance Theme Icon
).
Part 1, Chapter 18 Quotes

I could believe it, I thought, pretending, in slave fashion, not to be there. After being cruel, the most notable white attribute was gullibility. As evidenced by Huck’s reaction. He said, “You fellers are amazin’.”

Related Characters: James (Jim) (speaker), Huck (speaker), The Duke, The King
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 21 Quotes

“Yes, but them people liked it, Jim. Did you see their faces? They had to know them was lies, but they wanted to believe. What do you make of that?”

“Folks be funny lak dat. Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ‘em.”

[…]

“I reckon I do that, too,” the boy said.

“What say?”

“I kin see how much you miss yer family and yet I don’t think about it. I forget that you feel things jest like I feel. I know you love them.”

“Thank you, Huck.”

Related Characters: James (Jim) (speaker), Huck (speaker), The Duke, The King
Page Number: 126-127
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 22 Quotes

The Duke swung his belt and caught me at my knees. It did hurt. He laughed and did it again. I didn’t wince.

“You see that?” the King said. “I say, did you see that? They don’t even feel like no human man.”

[…]

“Don’t tear him up too much,” the King said. “We gotta be able to sell him. We cain’t get a dime fer him if’n he’s torn all asunder.”

“Hell, man,” the Duke said. “He ain’t no proper people. He don’t feel pain like we do. He need a lesson he kin remember. Nextwise, he’ll get it into his head to run again. That’s the way these creatures is built.”

Related Characters: The Duke (speaker), The King (speaker), James (Jim), Huck
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis: