"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is the most grotesque example of racist trash ever written" (Wallace 1). Many people in the African American community share this rather extreme view, believing that the book promotes racist ideas and agendas. Others, however, regard it as holding one of the highest positions in the canon of American literature. On an international level, it is "a fixture among the classics of world literature" (Kaplan 352). How can such a discrepancy exist regarding people's perceptions about the meaning or intent of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? The majority of the problem is that opponents to the book get entirely caught up with the word "nigger" to the point that they do not pay attention to important changes in the book that yield anti-racist ideas. Also, opponents to the book, such as Julius Lester, take a myopic look at the character Jim without fully realizing the extent to which he is portrayed as a fully realized human being. Instance after instance, Twain writes about Jim in ways that help the reader come to understand that he is just as important, with just as much feelings, as anyone else in the book. Contrary to what many adversaries state regarding The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book does a wonderful job portraying Jim as a character with just as many feelings as any white person in the book, while at the same time encompassing the unfortunate reality of the time.
             In order to subvert Huck's misconception of "nigger" Jim, Twain first exposes Jim's humanity when the two are separated from each other on the river during a dense fog. Huck, alone of the canoe, searches for Jim, who is alone on the raft. When Huck finally catches up with the raft, he finds Jim asleep, apparently exhausted from the terrifying ordeal. Instead of waking up Jim to celebrate their reunion, Huck decides to play a trick on him. Lying down beside Jim, Huck wakes him up and says, "Hell...