James: A Novel

Part 2 highlights the resilience of enslaved men like Jim and develops the theme of Humanity and Friendship. Jim’s friendship with Norman takes center stage, and rather than portraying these men through the lens of pity, the novel shows them to be kind, intelligent, thoughtful men who are resourceful in the face of adversity. The two men meet while performing in Emmett’s minstrel show, and Norman reveals himself to be a Black man whose skin is light enough to pass as white. Like Jim, he hopes to find and free his family. The two share many sharp observations about the nature of racism and the depth of white supremacy in American society, and they are well-matched in intellect and temperament. These kinds of relationships are important among enslaved people, for it is only with one another that they are treated with dignity and respect.

Emmett’s character continues to showcase The Brutality of Enslavement. Norman informs Jim that, after his escape, Emmett wanted to find him and have him hanged. Emmett’s violent impulse comes as no surprise to Norman or Jim. Of Emmett, Jim remarks: “I knew he had it in him” (190). Emmett has been eager to distinguish himself from the kind of man who would enslave another, and yet he finally reveals himself to be no better than those who buy and sell other human beings. He still feels a sense of ownership over Black people and he still feels entitled to resort to violence against them when they defy him.

The character of Henderson also embodies the brutality of enslavement. Henderson is a cruel white man who beats Jim and repeatedly sexually assaults Sammy, an enslaved woman on his property. His treatment of Sammy illustrates the stakes of enslavement for women and girls, who in addition to being the targets for physical violence were often subject to rape. In Sammy, Jim sees what the future might hold for his own daughter, and he offers to take her with him when he escapes in part because he empathizes with the pain that enslaved women and girls endure.

Henderson’s character also introduces the concept of lateral oppression, that is, injustice done by members of a marginalized group to one another, typically as a result of internalized racism. One of the enslaved men on Henderson’s property remarks that Henderson, despite his “fondness for the whip,” is “all in all a good master” (207). This demonstrates his acceptance of both bondage and the idea that he is inferior because he is enslaved, and it is an attitude that Jim abhors and fights against. The bulk of the Black characters in this novel do not share this man’s troubling viewpoint, but lateral oppression is an important aspect of enslavement that the novel seeks to highlight through scenes like this one.

Jim will encounter this attitude again in the character of Brock, the enslaved man who works aboard the steamboat. Brock seems entirely content with his lot in life, and he treats Norman with incredible deference despite his bedraggled appearance just because he is white. In that interaction Jim observes “the power of skin color” to convey or deny privilege (234), and he realizes that a white man is always viewed as superior to a Black one, no matter how poor or downtrodden he looks. Brock, although Black and enslaved, has absorbed the white supremacist ideology that was dominant in pre-emancipation America and thus perpetuates racist prejudice against other Black men.

Jim sees this kind of attitude as evidence of the importance of Resilience in the Face of Racist Silencing because he understands that part of the danger of enslavement is accepting a version of himself dictated by his enslavers. He therefore takes pains to maintain control over how he perceives himself and how he is perceived by others. To do so, he interrogates Christianity and philosophy, thinks critically about racism and white supremacy, and writes his own story.