Jim's loyalty to Huck is best demonstrated through Jim's decisions on the river. Jim, who is a runaway slave, heading to Cairo in search of work and his family, is heading downriver with Huck and misses his turn for Cairo. Jim's decision to remain with Huck costs him a chance to find work and a chance to find his family, whom he dearly misses. Their mistake in navigation also leads the duo farther South into slave territory, bringing potentially hazardous situations for a runaway slave. Jim's loyalty is reinforced later on in their adventures, as Jim passes his greatest opportunity for freedom in order to find medical attention for the wounded Tom Sawyer. Jim's loyalty to the two young boys simultaneously contradicts racial stereotypes while affirming the consequences may accompany decisions of loyalty.
Huck's loyalty to Jim, although perhaps out of reciprocity, is demonstrated best through Huck's decision to withhold Jim's location from the Widow Douglas and his efforts to free Jim from the Phelps family. Huck's ability to