Jim

Jim is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. At the novel’s start, Jim is enslaved by Miss Watson and Judge Thatcher. When his wife Sadie tells him that Watson and Thatcher plan to “sell [him] to a man in New Orleans,” Jim decides to leave Sadie and their daughter Lizzie and hide in the woods on the nearby Jackson Island (33, 35). He does not run, because he is afraid of being caught and because he does not want to put any more distance between himself and his family. Shortly thereafter, Huck joins Jim on Jackson Island and the two decide to flee together. Huck faked his own death and given Jim’s disappearance, the Hannibal townspeople guess that Jim is responsible for Huck’s murder.

Throughout the following weeks and months, Jim and Huck wander down the Mississippi River together. Jim wants to be...