At 11:42 PM 9/10/96 UT, John Bird wrote: "Jim is never ever named "Nigger Jim" in the novel. That's a name readers gave him. (Like Hemingway in his famous comment.)" John, Right you are. I thought about pointing that out in my original mailing, but I decided it would be intrusive to editorialize at that point. But it *is* an important point, as you say, and I suspect that the habit of using that phrase tends to reduce Jim from a three-dimensional *character* to a two-dimensional symbol. The frequent use of the phrase "Nigger Jim" in discussions of "Huckleberry Finn" -- as though the character goes through the book wearing that label -- may also help explain some of the widespread hostility to the book among black Americans. Best regards, Pete Salwen