Huck Finn Post #2

Huck and Jim have a very uncommon reletionship for a young, white male and a runaway slave. Their relationship is very close to the relationship a father and son possess. This can be seen through the way they talk and interact with one another.
In Chapter 14, there is a scene where Huck and Jim are sitting around telling one another stories. What is so unusual about this scene, a scene that can be viewed as typical father-son interaction, is that Huck plays the role of the father. Where the the father usually talks and tells the stories, Huck (the younger of the two) is the character trying to make Jim see the point of the fable of King Solomon. After Jim talks about how Solomon wasn't truly wise because he was going to cut a child in half, Huck says "But hang it, Jim, you've clean missed the point-blame it, you've missed it a thousand mile" (Twain 82). In the average father-son scenario, the father figure would be the one to explain why the child had missed the point. Here, Huck assumes the role of the father and tries to explain to Jim how it was just a test and Solomon wasn't actually going to cut the child in half, but like a child Jim is stubborn and refuses to change his mind on Solomon. This portion of the chapter depicts the paternal relations between Jim and Huck, but the way they act towards each other exeplifies it even more.
Throughout the whole novel so far, the way Jim and Huck act towards each other is very protective. Much like how a son works to protect his son, Jim protects Huck. A good example being when the two found the dead man in th floating house, Jim tells Huck "Come in, Huck, but doan' look at his face-it's too gashly" (Twain 57). This instinct to protect Huck from the grotesque thing in life is the same instinct that a father has to protect his son from any danger, whether physical or mental impurification. Not only does the way Jim act towards Huck protection wise display his fatherly affection towards him, his loving manner shows his paternal role in Hucks life on the river. When the Grangerfords start to fight and shoot, Jim thinks that Huck is in the middle of the dispute. Jim believe Huck to be dead, but when he learns that he is very much so alive his reaction portrays that of a worried father to his son. "...nothing ever sounded so good before. I run along the bank a piece and got aboard, and Jim he grabbed me and hugged me, he was so glad to see me" (Twain 117). The way Jim greets Huck is the way any parent would if they realized that their child was safe instead of whatever terrible thing they believed they were. Jim hugs him and tells Huck just how worried he was. This is one of the most parental moments in the book so far, and it just emphasizes the father-son relationship that Jim and Huck share even more.