James: A Novel

“Religion is just a controlling tool that they employ and adhere to when convenient.”

James instructs enslaved children on how to interact with white people, and part of that instruction is a conversation on religion. His broader point here is that the white people’s religion is just one of their many means of subjugating the enslaved. To assert that there is a god who would tacitly approve of the serial abuse and enslavement of men and women while offering them promises of happiness in heaven is hypocritical and manipulative.

“Mos’ peoples likes money mo’ ’n anything else, white folks anyway.”

Although the various white enslavers depicted in this novel are unaware of the fact, Jim and the other enslaved characters have ample time to contemplate The Brutality of Enslavement and the moral failings of those who enslave. Greed, Jim realizes, is one of white people’s primary motives for enslaving Black people.

“‘I don’t like white folks,’ he said, ‘and I is one.’”

Huck speaks these lines. Despite being a white boy who has grown up surrounded by enslavement and white people’s justifications for enslavement, Huck seems to grasp the inhumanity of the system. He questions why some men are enslaved and others are free, and actively seeks out Jim’s friendship.

“Don’t every man got a right to be free?”

Huck repeatedly questions the ethics of enslavement. It is clear that he is trying to figure out the nature of his world, and he has concluded that it is wrong for one human to enslave another. This is especially interesting in light of his father’s extremely racist attitudes toward Black people, and Jim in particular.

“Good ain’t got nuffin’ to do wif da law. Law says I’m a slave.”

Religion is a motif in this text and it is used to interrogate the morality of a belief system that purports to be based on recognizing the universal value of human life while also ignoring the profound inhumanity of enslavement. Jim sees little utility in a God who would turn his back on the enslaved and sees no reason for Black people to believe in Christianity.

“Foraging was not difficult. I was a slave. I knew how to scratch and claw.”

This passage speaks both to the inhumanity of enslavement as a system and to the strength and resilience of enslaved people. In spite of enslavers’ attempts to rob the enslaved characters of agency, Jim and the other Black people in this text find ways to survive and meet their needs.

“My mother’s mother was from some place on the continent of Africa.”

Although this quote might seem unimportant, its linguistic usage is extremely meaningful. Racism and white supremacy shape the way that the world is understood in the West, and the continent of Africa is often referred to in the way that people typically speak about individual countries. This is because there is a general assumption in the West that all the countries on the African continent are more-or-less the same. That Jim specifically notes Africa’s status as a continent speaks to and corrects this act of geographical racism.

“With my pencil, I wrote myself into being.”

This passage speaks to the novel’s interest in resilience and agency. Jim is defined in large part through the ways in which he retains his humanity in spite of enslavement and racist oppression. He is a keenly intelligent, highly literate man, and he realizes the power of telling his own story.

“What you’re saying is, if someone pays you enough then it is okay to abandon what you have claimed to understand as moral and right.”

There are many moments during which Jim interrogates Enlightenment thinkers and Enlightenment ideals, and he is particularly good at pointing out various flaws and moments of cognitive dissonance in humanist discourses. He performs a similar type of interrogation with religion. In each case, he identifies areas where what is right and just is set aside in favor of what is easy.

“He ain’t no proper people. He don’t feel pain like we do.”

This passage, spoken during the beating that the Duke and the King subject Jim to, speaks to the inhumanity of slavery. Neither man sees Jim as fully human only because he is African American. Huck is the only white character in the novel who questions the ethics of enslavement and who understands that Jim has just as much humanity as he, a white boy, does.

“And I couldn’t lose sight of my goal of freeing my family. What would freedom be without them?”

This passage speaks to Jim’s characterization and to the author’s interest in creating a complex, multifaceted African American character. Jim deeply loves his family and wants to free them in addition to himself. Although enslavers seek to deny the humanity of the enslaved characters, they cannot break the strong familial bonds that enslaved people form with one another.

“A pencil, can you believe that? A slave was accused of stealing a pencil and they hanged him dead for it.”

In this passage, Jim learns from Easter of a nearby lynching. Jim knows that it was his request for this pencil that prompted the lynching and he is struck with anguish and guilt. Violence against enslaved people was common and moments like these speak to the theme of The Brutality of Enslavement: Killing a man over the theft of a small pencil is egregiously horrific.

“We’re a minstrel company. We perform in blackface.”

Minstrel shows were a deeply racist form of entertainment in which white performers would wear black makeup and act out offensive stereotypes about Black people. This novel’s use of minstrel shows grounds it within the real-life history of the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

“The woman’s father had touched my hair. Slaves didn’t have the luxury of anxiety, but at that moment I had felt anxiety. Slaves didn’t have the luxury of anger towards a white man, but at that moment I had felt anger.”

This passage speaks to the lack of bodily autonomy that enslaved people have as well as the way that they are forced to keep their emotions in check. They must endure all manner of mistreatment without striking back for fear that they will be punished. This is indicative of the climate of fear created by enslavers and illustrates the theme of The Brutality of Enslavement.

“We came back and found you gone and all of a sudden Emmett sounded like every slaver I ever met.”

Once Emmett discovers Jim’s absence, his regard for the humanity of Black people vanishes. Jim is not surprised, for he has long since learned that no matter how kind they appear, white men are always enslavers at heart, and none of them recognize the humanity of enslaved people.

“I don’t want to be white. I don’t want to be one of them.”

Norman, who can pass for white, speaks these lines. He would rather live as a Black than a white man because he recognizes the inherent inhumanity of white men, both those who enslave people and those who accept the system of enslavement as normal and acceptable. Norman understands that from a moral standpoint, white people are all to blame for enslavement and, although it would surprise most white people to hear it, he does not envy them their privilege.

“He’s raped me since I was little.”

Sammy speaks these lines about Henderson. Although she hadn’t shared this information with Jim before the two ran, Jim had guessed it. Here, too, the author paints a picture of the inhumanity of enslavement. Not only are people bought and sold and beaten, but women are frequently subject to sexual abuse at the hands of their enslavers.

“Even though Norman looked like the poorest and worst off white man, he still commanded respect.”

This passage speaks to the racist racial hierarchies that governed the United States in the years leading up to the Civil War. Although affluent white men had more privilege than the rest of society, even white men without money and resources had more rights and respect than Black men. Jim knows that Norman, because he can pass for white, will always be treated better and given more respect than he is. After this incident, Jim reflects on the power of skin color to convey or deny privilege. As always, Jim is a keen thinker and can analyze the nuances of enslavement far better than white men can.

“Because Huck, and I hope that you hear this without thinking I’m crazy or joking, you are my son.”

This is an important moment within the novel’s plot. Jim is revealed as Huck’s father. Huck then must come to terms with his identity in light of everything he has decided about enslavement and freedom, “right” and “wrong.”

“If I am in a war, then I have a right to fight back. That follows, doesn’t it? I have a right, perhaps duty, to kill my enemy?”

This passage speaks to the idea that self-determination and self-protection are basic human rights. Although enslaved people are denied the ability to “fight back,” every human regardless of race should be afforded the same rights and the same ability to defend themselves.

“White people often spent time admiring their survival of one thing or another. I imagined it was because so often they had no need to survive, just to live.”

This passage speaks to how different experiences were for white and enslaved people during the pre-emancipation era. While Jim and other Black men are always in survival mode, whites are relatively free to make their own choices and live their lives as they see fit. Jim argues that for this reason they are often moved by survival instincts in others: They are able to view survival as an abstract concept rather than as a necessary and stressful state of being.

“If one knows hell as home, is returning to hell a homecoming?”

This passage speaks to Jim’s keen intellect and powers of analysis. He knows that enslaved men and women are taught to be content with their lot in life and to see their enslaver’s properties as “home.” Jim sees the fallacy behind this line of thinking and understands that there are no “kind masters” and that enslavement is akin to torture.

“My sleep was bothered by the scene of Katie’s rape. I hated the man. I hated myself for not intervening. I hated the world that wouldn’t let me apply justice without certain retaliation of injustice.”

This passage speaks to The Brutality of Enslavement. Although Jim bears witness to this sexual assault, he is powerless to stop it. Enslavers created an atmosphere of pervasive violence, and the threat of that violence was a source of constant terror for enslaved people.