How are you interpreting Jim? What meaning are you taking away from the characterization of him in the text? Is he an example of a minstrel? Is his characterization contributing to double consciousness?
I am interpreting Jim as a slave who is a person with lots of potential to become a great person. He is a very religious and superstitious person, I don't blame him in the first place because back at that time there wasn't much education offered to many black slaves. So I think that's a factor in why he so superstitious, although in the context of the book he does seem as if he is the humor of the story. I can compare him to a minstrel but then again he is a character that is there for the reader's and people's entertainment not because he is making fun of himself, it's just that is how he is as a human being. Jim is just being himself, only because he has his own characteristics and because that's how other people view him based on his humiliating events and beliefs.
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Jim is really hard to define. Or rather it is because we have so many things we want to label him as being that it become difficult. I don’t think I could define Jim and I don’t think people will stop debating the issue any time soon.
ReplyDeleteFor it’s really hard to define Jim. Some actions of him are hard for me to understand. I think it’s because I don’t really know about much about the culture and history of that time, I just feel confusing about some words he has spoken out. But I know he is a slave that very deeply believes the life he has now, but at the some time, he also want to find a way to escape the restrict of his life.
ReplyDeleteroger, i think your ideas of him as somebody who will grow and change, perhaps even beyond the story, is really interesting. I had thought of him as being static, as being an archetype. With your gjoughts in mind, i will pay attention to see if he grows or changes as a person as the story progresses (im not done yet). Thanks Roger.
ReplyDeleteJim is a very complex character to a point...I would agree he just does what he does because that is who he is although many don't see that...they see him as just another person with dark skin. I agree he is not very educated but more educated with different kinds of knowledge, more like being street wise and is full of other knowledge that many like us don't know about and is very aware of the atmosphere that surounds him..great response!
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