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Jackie Reuss
Dr. Entzminger
English 237
April 30, 2015
In American History, literature has reflected the many social and political movements that
make us the country we are today. Some of the most intriguing topics among these are racism,
abolitionism and black culture. Many writers have written about these topics, each approaching
them in different ways and at different points in our history as a nation. Mark Twain, James
Baldwin and Langston Hughes each provide different points of view on these topics, showing the
good, the bad, and the ugly that have defined the history of Black Americans. On the surface,
Twain shows us the human side of Abolitionism while Baldwin shows us the grotesque nature of
racism, and Hughes answers both of these with images that inspire hope for equality. The three
each illustrate in their own ways how racism harms everyone, not just blacks.
Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn most obviously illustrates the
struggles of blacks against racism in the years that followed the Civil War. The runaway slave,
Jim, is characterized as remaining very respectful and obedient to Huck and the king and
duke over the course of their journey down the river. It seems that the fact that Jim is on his
way to freedom is enough for him and he doesnt feel the need to rush his white companions
because they are still accommodating his purpose, however inadvertently. It can be argued,
though, that Jim does not rush them because he is too afraid to anger them; being a runaway
slave, they could easily collect reward money for his return or sell him. Miss Watson, Jims
owner, had previously told him that she would never sell him. It is something that Jim overhears
that makes him think she is going back on her word which makes him decide to run away. So,

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although he disobeys his owner, it is only desperation and fear that forces him to defy a white
person. Because his purpose of gaining freedom and finding his family is ever so slowly still
being accommodated, Jim does not see the need to stir up any trouble, or to leave them. His
running away in the first place, however, maintains the attitudes of the time that blacks were
criminals. The chapters of the novel which take place on the Phelps farm illustrate Jims
obedience best. Because of the ridiculousness of Toms romanticized ploy to free Jim, it is
outrageous that a human being would put up with Toms nonsense. In one article, Frances Kaye
recounts the Supreme Court decision of 1883 which invalidated the last of the remaining laws
intended to enforce the civil war amendments illustrating the complete abandonment of the
Unions cause (21). Kaye illustrates how, in these latest chapters in the novel, Toms character
represents this abandonment of values (22). Huck, having previously made the decision to help
Jim, betrays the seriousness of Jims cause by going along with Toms foolishness. This mirrors
the way that society had forgotten about the cause that incensed the Civil War. Jim, left with
only an exasperated sense of hope, continues to go along with Toms ploy and therefore
collaborates in his own degradation (Kaye 23). This specifically illustrates the dehumanizing
effects that slavery had on slaves. Not only does Jim allow his torment to be delayed, but the
goal of getting back to his family is simply forgotten. Even when Jim is declared a free man his
reaction is withheld and the focus shifts from what will happen to Jim to what will happen to
Tom and Huck. Jims struggle is characterized by habitual submission to those around him and
even in his individual quest for freedom, he finds himself subjected to the whims of the white
characters around him.
Huck Finn further illustrates the diverse views about slavery and abolitionism that
characterized the years following the Civil War. The subtle oppositions between racist characters

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are what allow Twains antiracist purpose to be exposed: he shows his belief that in the
United States neither white nor black is able to opposethe stupid conformity of racism
(Kaye 22). Kaye argues that, in writing Huck Finn, Twain has successfully labelled racism as a
disease which has overtaken American culture as a whole, and furthermore, argues that even
Twain himself is not immune (25). There is rarely an episode in the novel in which this idea is
not easily recognizable. Paps character is among the most violently racist. The disease has
overtaken him to the point that it distracts him from his role as a father; he is obsessed to the
point where his racism rivals his alcoholism. Pap is as dependent on racism as he is on alcohol
because, being poor, racism provided him with a sense of social elevation. As a side effect of
both his racism and alcoholism, he is unable to be a good parent to Huck. Paps priorities mimic
the values of the typical slave holder. His character illustrates that the financial priorities held by
typical slave owners, which regard blacks no differently than farm equipment or work horses, is
as deranged and inhumane as caring more about money than your own children. Paps own
social class exaggerates this point; being of the lowest rung among whites, Twain means for it to
be ironic when Pap refuses to vote because the nigger can vote (117). Pap unintentionally
lowers himself below the black man. Twains use of irony portrays racism for what it is, a social
construct meant to maintain whites feelings of social superiority; it is a social construct that
benefits all whites regardless of their own social class. Furthermore, by making Pap an alcoholic
and vastly more concerned about money than he is his own child, Twain connects racism to
ignorance and violence. By drawing this connection and defining what racism is, he provides his
readers with an opposition by which they can determine what abolitionism is and is not.
Amidst Pap and this gradual defining of abolitionism, Twain depicts a spectrum of the
degrees of racism through other characters, prompting his immediate readers to consider their

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own positions. Consequently, his white readers are made to realize that at this point in their
history, they are in a position much like Huck is; they are floating down a river at the mercy of
the currentsthe pressures and expectations of societyand must now determine their own
position in the debate. Huck Finn prompts its readers to weigh each side of the argument just like
Huck does throughout the course of his journey, finally declaring: All right, then, Ill go to hell
(239). To the readers, this is ironic, because he has come to the opposite conclusion as his father,
who, depicted as a criminal, is much more likely to go to hell. The implications are several.
First, the fact that the young Huck chooses a drastically different stance than his father does
implies that readers are just as capable of defying their upbringing. Secondly, it illustrates to
readers that the decision they are being prompted to make is a serious one, as serious as going to
hell. Finally, it informs readers that, in choosing to weigh in on the side of abolitionism, they are
likely to experience social persecution. It forces readers to consider and prepare themselves for
the consequences of their decisions so that they will have the resolve to stick to them. By
exposing the position that his early readers are in, he establishes racism as being a violent
oppressor to whites and blacks alike, and consequently, argues that abolitionism is a
humanitarian cause.
Along these same lines but in a more gruesome account, James Baldwin wrote Going to
Meet the Man in order to illustrate how, more than a century after the Civil War, the stupid
conformity (Kaye 22) that Huck overcame remains problematic in American society. Shireen
Patell, in an essay about Baldwins work, critiques the story as a psychologically revealing
portrayal of the hidden destruction of the white body (369). While the physical violence of the
lynching is obvious, and gruesome enough to make our stomachs turn, the idea of a child
watching it is so unnerving that the reader experiences the same thing that young Jesse

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experiencesat once a feeling of undeniable disgust yet an inability to look away. It is this
exposure to that of which we were previously ignorant that makes the nature of the story
simultaneously repulsive and intriguing. Illustrating what Patell labels identity politics (363),
Baldwin lays open the subtle process of acquiring racism from ones parents and community by
using a series of flashbacks that relate the suppressed memories of the confused adult Jesse. His
confusion exemplifies the delayed consequences of the traumatic memory of the lynching and
the violent self-destruction to which white racist culture submits their children.
The fear he feels toward his father is what makes his becoming racist unavoidable; his
reality is ruled by his father. The desire to please his father is far greater than his empathy, or
understanding, of the social situation, despite his friendship with the missing-in-action Otis, who
might have been his only hope. Jesses reality, like Hucks before he escapes on the river, is one
of patriarchal oppression; the difference is that Jesse has no way to escape, and other than his
desire to understand and be closer to his family and community, he has no reason to want to
escape. His abuse is of a different type than Hucks, it is more mental. Huck was thought of as
owing his father something in return for having raised him. Pap, upon hearing that Huck has
come into some money, immediately reappears in Hucks life and locks him up in a cabin up the
river. Pap separates Huck from anyone who might talk poorly about him. Meanwhile, Jesses
parents are emotionally oppressive, keeping secrets from him as if they are sacred things that he
is not good enough to know yet. These secrets pique Jesses curiosity but his parents continue to
treat him like an outsider. Because of this, when Jesse does get to go to the picnic (1389), he
forces himself to act in a way that will reinforce his parents trust in him. He is forced to ignore
his own disgust and forced to endure it without even the slightest consolation. Furthermore,
allowing Jesse to befriend a black boy but talking very poorly about him, they suggest to Jesse

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that being black automatically means that Otis will grow to be a criminal. Having Otis as a friend
and confidant is evidence that Jesse is probably not ready to witness the gory scene at the
picnic. However, he cannot cry to his mother, he cannot tell his father he is not okay, he cannot
do anything but watch and try to react the way he is expected to if he wants to be accepted as a
participating member of the community. Patell describes the lynching scene as being where
desire, hatred, love, approval, belonging, and torture were sealed together in a destructive blend
that blotted out all other possibilities (376). These are all motives that trap Jesse into a certain
future; that he will adopt the racism of his family and community is inevitable. Instead of
expelling his feelings of torment, then, for decades he has blocked the memory out and ignored
the effect it has had on him. His impotence is evidence that, while his parents think him to be an
exemplary citizen, the memory haunts him. This is problematic because the memory also helped
earn him his respected place among the community. In this gruesome depiction, it is the
unquestionably grotesque nature of how racism is adopted which illustrates how racism is just as
violent towards whites as it is blacks, drawing to mind the question: My god, who would do that
to their children?
The fact that it is never mentioned what crime had been committed by the man who
was lynched implies that it was irrelevant. What is relevant is that Jesse knows not to ask:
What did he do? Jesse wondered. What did the man do? What did he do?but he could not ask
his father. He was seated on his fathers shoulders, but his father was far away (1391). His
placement on his fathers shoulders shows just how raw the scene was for Jesse, he was not
straining to see; he saw everything. The distance he had portrayed between him and his father is
Jesses perception of the differences in their realities before his initiation is completed. The
father views the initiation as a sacred experience that requires no explanation, but Jesses

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curiosity and confusion require an answer. On the trip there, not knowing exactly where they
were going, Jesse wonders where his friend is that he did not have the chance to ask him about
this mystery (1389). It is important to consider Otis disappearance from the scene. Baldwin
includes the memory of their friendship as a way of illustrating Jesses innocence prior to his
magical initiation (Patell 378). His disappearance serves to distinguish their childhoods as
being very different, despite their close friendship. Considering the racist context, the dynamic
of their friendship, Otis being Jesses confidant, is ironic because Otis is depicted as more mature
and socially informed than Jesse is since he had known about the lynching and been scarce for
two days. Although the reader does not get to meet Otis, we are left with the feeling that, had
Jesse spoken to Otis about it, he might have been, at the least, more prepared and less disturbed,
and perhaps even quietly and inwardly disapproving instead of becoming inflicted by the disease
of racism. This is made impossible by differences in their upbringing however, juxtaposing the
nature of being raised black versus the nature of being raised white. What is a rite of passage for
Jesse would have quite possibly been a death sentence for Otis. Jesses initiation removes the
need for him to have a friend and confidant like Otis, because now there are no more secrets or
mysterieshe no longer needs Otis. Further, associating with Otis thereafter would undermine
and null the rite of passage and therefore we can assume that Jesse abandoned the friendship.
For blacks then, this implies that the extent to which racism was prevalent in society caused them
to live in a state of constant suspicion and hesitance towards engaging with white people, even if
they seem to harbor no racist feelings. There is always the chance that they can be betrayed.
Between Twain and Baldwin, Langston Hughes poetry often treats racism as a secondary
subject, with the purpose of instilling hope, strength and pride in his African American readers.
His poems use racism and slavery as a vehicle to create cohesion between black Americans as a

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people. In his essay Re-membering the African-American Past, Glenn Jordan identifies
collective memory and survival as the two major themes that characterize Hughes poetry (13).
In light of these themes, racism, slavery and oppression often appear as the collective memory
which the generations before them had survived and overcome. In Mother to Son, these
struggles appear as metaphors for struggle: splinters, / and boards torn up, / and places with no
carpet on the floor / Bare (4-7). The poem starts by regressing into the past to the times of
struggle that the motherly speaker has experienced. While these lines can be depicting the actual
conditions of places she might have lived, they are relatable to the broader audience if they are
viewed metaphorically. This interpretation would follow the path of advancement that is
initiated by the reference to the crystal stair (2). While the stair is not crystal, the fact that
progress is being made is much more important. His theme of survival is enhanced through the
constant improvement that she describes, making the message of the poem one of hope and
perseverance.
While a large portion of his poetry embraces messages of hope and ethnic pride, Hughes
also writes about the challenges that plague his readers, mainly racism. In his poem Mulatto,
Hughes uses the voice of a mulatto, or biracial, man to illustrate the depravity of the racism that
blacks face. Racism, as a social construct, can even directly affect familial relations. The poem
illustrates how the torment of violent sexual relations between slavewomen and their masters
does not stop when the experience is over and is not limited to the woman who is raped. The
poem opens with a declaration from the biracial man: I am your son, white man! (1). This
declaration is the most concrete line in the poem. The responses to his claim are all riddled with
questions or desperate counterclaims. You are my son! / Like hell! (5-6) his apparent fatherslaveowner responds in a more exasperated tone. Later, in another response, Hughes provides

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the voice of the white mans legitimate son: Naw, you aint my brother. / Niggers aint my
brother. / Not ever (27-29). Both responses are filled with emotion, but the mulatto mans
original claim is the only fact. These conversational parts of the poem provide readers with an
ugly portrait of how racism provides whites with a tool that allows them to construct their own
truths and deny the relations in order to maintain their reputations. At the end of the poem, the
declaration is reinforced, but is countered with A little yellow / Bastard boy (44-45). Leaving
these words to close the poem undermines the mulatto mans truth, showing that his truth cannot
supercede a purely white mans truth because he has half black blood, and therefore is considered
black despite whatever he might look like.
Hughes romanticizes the setting of the poem and uses imagery of the sky that emphasizes
light and dark, mimicking the mulatto mans heritage: The moon over the turpentine woods. /
The Southern night / Full of stars, (7-9). These lines distinguish the scene as constructed
entirely out of hostile oppositions; the moon, or the white man, versus the woods and the night,
the female slaves, which cannot escape the moons light. Moonlight is used throughout the poem
to indicate the presence of the slave owner in the dark, under the cover of night, allowing them to
be kept secret from their wives and the community. The next line distinguishes the stars as being
yellow, representing the mulatto man, the result of the violent interaction between female slaves
and their slave owners. The plurality of yellow stars (10) suggests that it was very common for
a black woman to have children to their slave owners. The poem goes on to describe the bodies
of these slave women as blue black (14), indicating the bruising of female slaves that resulted
from the violent sexual encounters. Continuing in the voice of the mulatto mans father, Hughes
illustrates the attitudes of these slave owners: Whats a body but a toyWhats the body of your
mother / Silver moonlight everywhere (9-20). Slave masters looked upon their female slaves as

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playthings and were aware and took advantage of the fact that these women could not escape
them. The slave owners raped and impregnated them, only to deny the mulatto child a family. It
seems, in this poem, that the biggest loss to the mulatto man is that he did not have the chance to
have a normal family life because he was yellow (44). Because of the impossibility of a
normal family life, the torment of the violent encounters is a lifelong struggle for both the mother
and child.
Twain, Baldwin and Hughes each approach racism from a different angle. Each reveals a
different set of struggles or situations which resulted from the prominence of racism within
American culture. Some of these topics, like rape and lynching, are disturbing reminders to
contemporary readers that our American past is not always something to be proud of. Some
topics, like abolitionism and the abandonment of Civil War values, make contemporary readers
consider just how much, or how little, progress American society has really made. Still others
inspire hope and pride, such as Hughes lighter poetry. Together they illustrate how nobody in
American culture can escape the effects of racismnot a poor, young, white, adolescent boy; not
a mulatto man; not a free black man. The significance of all of these literary artifacts and their
collective message is that, together, they create a rounded view of what racism truly is. Often
overlooked in our history books because it is an embarrassment to some, it is a source of pride
for others, a three-dimensional cultural phenomenon whose details, we, as Americans, cannot
afford to ignore.

Works Cited
Baldwin, James. Going to Meet the Man The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eds.
Mina Baym et. al. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc, 2008. 1381-1391. Print.

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Hughes, Langston. Mother to Son. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eds. Mina
Baym et. al. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc, 2008. 1089. Print.
---. Mulatto The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eds. Mina Baym et. al. New York:
W.W. Norton & Co. Inc, 2008. 1091. Print.
Jordan, Glenn. "Re-Membering The African-American Past." Cultural Studies 25.6 (2011): 848891. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Kaye, Frances W. "Race And Reading: The Burden Of Huckleberry Finn." Canadian Review Of
American Studies 29.1 (1999): 13. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Patell, Shireen R. K. "We The People," Who? James Baldwin And The Traumatic Constitution
Of These United States. Comparative Literature Studies 48.3 (2011): 356-387.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Norton Anthology of American
Literature. Eds. Mina Baym et. al. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc, 2008. 101-287.
Print.