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Part 3, Chapter 8
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 swims back across the channel with rations, Hopkins’ pistol, and his notebook. He sneaks into Judge Thatcher’s library, searching for a map and a bill of sale for Sadie and Lizzie. Judge Thatcher interrupts and is shocked to see Jim pointing a pistol at him. Jim calls himself James and demands to know the location of his family. His natural speech baffles Thatcher, who cannot focus on what he is saying as much as how he is saying it. Finally, he tells Jim the Graham farm is in Edina, and marks it on a map. Thatcher declares that Jim cannot imagine the trouble he is in, which Jim finds ridiculous, knowing full well what horrible things white people are capable of.
In this climactic scene, Jim at last drops his performance of slave talk, as prioritizing white comfort has protected neither him nor his family. The act of renaming himself in front of a white person shows that he has fully abandoned his disguise and is now fully committed to self-determination. Judge Thatcher’s shock illustrates how thoroughly he has convinced himself that Black people are unintelligent and subhuman. His attempts to reassert control over the situation presume that James is as simpleminded as he has been pretending to be—as James informs him, he is well aware of the trouble he is in, as he has frequently found himself in trouble for doing nothing at all.
Themes
James has never seen a white man as scared as Thatcher is, hearing an enslaved man speak in a language that does not conform to his expectations. Jim leads the judge to the river at gunpoint and forces him to row a skiff upriver. He calls Thatcher a slave and admits to murdering Hopkins for his gun. The fact that Jim is not afraid to tell Thatcher his crime scares the judge even more. Jim asks if Thatcher has ever raped a slave like Hopkins did. He has no interest in killing the judge but contradicts Thatcher’s view of himself as a benevolent master. Thatcher calls Jim a racial slur and promises to see him dead.
Again, Thatcher’s fear of James’s speech highlights how Black intelligence causes white discomfort by forcing enslavers to reckon with the way they have abused other human beings. That James openly admits to the crime of murder indicates that he is no longer afraid of the consequences of his actions, making him all the more uncontrollable in Thatcher’s eyes. By pushing back against Thatcher’s insistence that he was a kind enslaver, James shatters the illusion of white innocence and asserts that loyalty cannot be coerced.
Themes
The sun rises and James forces Thatcher to row them to shore. He sets the boat adrift and ties the judge to a tree, leaving him ungagged. Thatcher asks what books James has taken from his library, which surprises James. He has taken a slave narrative, Candide, and some John Stuart Mill. Thatcher seems even more offended and insists that James can’t leave him like this. When James asks if he means alive, the judge is silent. Thatcher tells James he will not make it to Edina, and James agrees that is a possibility.
The judge’s question about his book seems less like genuine interest and more like he is calling James’ bluff, asking him to prove he can read. As expected, he is appalled to discover that James is telling the truth about his literacy, as it contradicts his expectations about Black intelligence. That James leaves Thatcher alive shames the judge, who knows James has shown him more mercy than he would if their positions were reversed.
Themes
