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).