In the interests of infernal hair-splitting, I would point out that the proper reference is "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," NOT "THE Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." For someone like Twain, for whom the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug was of critical importance, surely the presence of the article, or absence thereof, was not a casual matter. I heartily agree with the notion that reference to "the nigger Jim" is a sly semantic maneuver on Twain's part to underscore Jim's humanity, a matter which definitely warrants the attention it is attracting today.

(The) martin zehr
kansas city, missouri
> As I understand the issue, the argument is not about whether Twain named =
> Jim "Nigger Jim" but whether he referred to him as "nigger Jim."  My =
> reference in the bio is to "nigger Jim." And the question is whether or =
> not that is an accurate quotation. The Mac Donnell & the Fisher claim =
> seems to be that Twain never referred to Jim as "nigger Jim." Clearly he =
> did. Am I wrong about this?