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Part 1, Chapter 18
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
The Duke and the King question Huck and Jim. Seeing how the men suspect Jim is a runaway slave, Huck claims Jim belongs to him, though he is obviously uncomfortable. Huck spins a lie about losing his father and brother in a riverboat accident, leaving him and Jim alone together. The reason they travel at night, according to Huck, is that people keep trying to take Jim away, since Huck is so young. His story fools the con men. A storm makes the river unsafe for travel that night. The King and the Duke insist on finding a town where they can con people out of their money. Huck worries that the men will pretend Jim belongs to them and try to sell him.
Huck continues to wrestle with the idea of Jim’s enslavement, which clearly troubles his sense of morality. That he, as a white child, has more social power than Jim, a Black adult, is obviously absurd. Nevertheless, Huck uses his privilege to shield Jim from the men’s questionable intentions as much as he can. Though they are liars themselves, the King and the Duke believe Huck’s story, bolstering Jim’s belief in white gullibility. Huck’s prediction that the men will try to sell Jim indicates he is wising up to the more sinister ways of the world.
Themes
