...from a pragmatic p.o.v., Jim should have killed Huck on Jackson
Island - considering that he was 'dead' already - availed himself of
Huck's gun & provisions, and made off. He didn't. I am fully with Kevin
on this one. 

best,
w

On Thu, 23 Mar 2023 19:25:34 +0000
 <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Heretical Fictions is an excellent book, but I think anyone trying to
>make the case that Jim was motivated by self-interest not to tell Huck
>about his father's death, must also make the case that Jim didn't
>think he was smart enough to escape slavery without a white child's
>help. I think that questioning Jim's motives is an insult to Jim's
>character; he has more integrity than most of the white characters in
>the story. Would Jim--the paternal figure who delivers that eloquent
>sermonette on friendship--treat the now wholly orphaned Huck that way?
>
>I would suggest that anyone who has read Huck Finn or Life on the
>Mississippi also read Thomas Buchanan's Black Life on the Mississippi
>(2004) for some surprising insights (and even as a counterpoint) into,
>well, black life on the Mississippi.
>
>Kevin
>@
>Mac Donnell Rare Books
>9307 Glenlake Drive
>Austin TX 78730
>512-345-4139
>
>You can browse our books at:
>www.macdonnellrarebooks.com
>
>
>------ Original Message ------
>From: "Scott Holmes" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Sent: 3/23/2023 12:37:07 PM
>Subject: Why Jim didn't tell Huck about Pap
>
>>Still reading notes from "Heretical Fictions", I note the idea that
>Jim did not tell Huck about the dead body being Pap as because Jim did
>not want Huck to abandon him in his quest to escape slavery.  I had
>always had the impression that his motivation was to avoid telling
>Huck the "bad" news.  Thinking about it, now, I suppose I have been a
>bit naive.
>>
>>-- /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/


Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck
Dept. of English /
Centre for Security and Society
Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg
Rempart St. 15
D-79098 Freiburg
Germany