There certainly is a VAST difference between saying "The" nigger Jim and "Nigger Jim." I would think most people with an education as English scholars would recognize that difference. -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Hal Bush Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 2:37 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: "nigger Jim" corrected text On 3/19/04 1:18 PM, "Fred Kaplan" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > The opening paragraph of "Huck Finn and Tom = > Sawyer among the Indians" includes the sentence, "Me and Tom Sawyer and = > the nigger Jim, that used to belong to old Miss Watson, was away down in = > Arkansas at Tom's aunt Sally's and uncle Silas's." LISTERS: I do not think that this quote is calling Jim "Nigger Jim" -- it sounds to me like he is just noting the race of Jim. My sense is that Twain never does refer to Jim as "Nigger Jim," in the exact sense of a proper name or proper noun. Please note that Twain does not write ""Me and Tom Sawyer and Nigger Jim" -- isn't the "the" crucial to this?? Ps-- I had thought that the wide currency of the naming of Jim as "Nigger Jim" was due to Hemingway, rather than his "first biographer" as Kaplan states -- but perhaps I am mistaken?? Harold K. Bush, Ph.D Associate Professor Dept. of English, Saint Louis University 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) Quote of the moment: "How does it feel To be on your own?" --Bob Dylan