Racial Inequality
Racial Inequality in Master Harold
In the play "Master Harold" and the boys and the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a common theme of racial inequality is conveyed through the main characters of both narrations. Both the novel and the play's central characters are a young white boy and an older Negro worker. The authors of these two works send out significant messages about how misleading racial discrimination is. Through the representation of Jim and Sam in the young boys life, as well as the changing attitudes the boys have towards racial inequality and how society affects those changes, a message about the injustice and ignorance of racial discrimination is revealed, as well as a lesson of how it is not always society's …show more content…
However when Huck runs away, and has discovered Jim has escaped, Huck does not turn around and turn him in. It is clear that if Huck was to do this he would be revealing himself and would have to return to the life he so desperately wanted to escape from. So instead Huck uses Jim as an allie, both characters have the common goal of escaping to what they deem a better life. Throughout the novel, in the events encountered and stories made up, there is a constant role play that Huck and Jim follow. Jim is always hiding or a servant of Huck. Huck is the one who takes the responsibility and danger of going into the towns and being exposed to others. There is a role reversal as the boy in the novel takes on responsibility that would be usually put upon the man in the situation, while Jim who is the man has to hide in the distance and can only offer insight to Huck. Unlike "Master Harold" and the boys, Huck does not grow out of the innocence of discrimination, but rather grows into it. By being removed from the restraints of society Huck begins to realize how valuable Jim is to him. Even though Huck is not very racist in the beginning of the novel, he still disregards Jim's feelings and believes himself to be better then Jim at some points. Huck first realizes his feelings for Jim, sees him as a human and as someone he cares about after Huck plays a trick on Jim, in which Huck pretends he is dead. In his isolation from society Huck has realized the essence of human nature and has escaped the conforming, unfair, and discriminatory values of society. As well, Huck gets to know Jim on a basis that is not simply black and white, but is man to man, equal to equal. At the end of the novel, Huck demonstrates defiance of the discriminatory values society has imposed on the lives of so many, and puts Jim before himself.
In the play "Master Harold" and the boys and the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a common theme of racial inequality is conveyed through the main characters of both narrations. Both the novel and the play's central characters are a young white boy and an older Negro worker. The authors of these two works send out significant messages about how misleading racial discrimination is. Through the representation of Jim and Sam in the young boys life, as well as the changing attitudes the boys have towards racial inequality and how society affects those changes, a message about the injustice and ignorance of racial discrimination is revealed, as well as a lesson of how it is not always society's …show more content…
However when Huck runs away, and has discovered Jim has escaped, Huck does not turn around and turn him in. It is clear that if Huck was to do this he would be revealing himself and would have to return to the life he so desperately wanted to escape from. So instead Huck uses Jim as an allie, both characters have the common goal of escaping to what they deem a better life. Throughout the novel, in the events encountered and stories made up, there is a constant role play that Huck and Jim follow. Jim is always hiding or a servant of Huck. Huck is the one who takes the responsibility and danger of going into the towns and being exposed to others. There is a role reversal as the boy in the novel takes on responsibility that would be usually put upon the man in the situation, while Jim who is the man has to hide in the distance and can only offer insight to Huck. Unlike "Master Harold" and the boys, Huck does not grow out of the innocence of discrimination, but rather grows into it. By being removed from the restraints of society Huck begins to realize how valuable Jim is to him. Even though Huck is not very racist in the beginning of the novel, he still disregards Jim's feelings and believes himself to be better then Jim at some points. Huck first realizes his feelings for Jim, sees him as a human and as someone he cares about after Huck plays a trick on Jim, in which Huck pretends he is dead. In his isolation from society Huck has realized the essence of human nature and has escaped the conforming, unfair, and discriminatory values of society. As well, Huck gets to know Jim on a basis that is not simply black and white, but is man to man, equal to equal. At the end of the novel, Huck demonstrates defiance of the discriminatory values society has imposed on the lives of so many, and puts Jim before himself.