Just wanted to say that I appreciate (and agree with) Daven's lengthy
discussion of Huck Finn.  Ralph Ellison has written an essay in which he
(as I recall) argues that at best Jim is still a white man's fantasy of
a good black man--someone remarkably like Uncle Tom: self-sacrificial,
evocative of sympathetic pity.  I think a good novel of the kind that can
help counterbalance the subtle racism of Huck Finn (the novel) is Mildred
Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.  Written by an African-American, it
is set in Mississippi in the 1930s, and it portrays vividly a black family's
struggle against racial violence and oppression.  I recommend it.  It has
some interesting echoes of _Huck Finn_--such as the name of the white
plantation owner: Harley Granger (reminiscent of the Grangerfords in
MT's work).