James by Percival Everett is based on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but the story is told from the perspective of Jim, a runaway slave. James relates the adventure Jim and Huck have as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft. Early on Jim writes, “I am called Jim. I have yet to choose a name.” This reveals the tale is about the inner transformation of Jim’s identity. The title of the book reveals Jim’s final choice of a name.
As the story opens we learn that Jim has a huge secret, he’s an educated slave who can read, write, and speak excellent English. Those skills could get him killed. Jim conceals his ability to speak well from his captors. He has learned that for his own safety his masters must feel superior to him. Jim is an expert at this mode of self-protection, and he teaches it to his family as well as other slaves. The author uses language to show how it can be employed to hide the truth as well as illuminate it. Language highlights the absurdity of identifying one race as superior to another. When people hear Jim speak proper English they are disoriented and frightened.
Jim loves books and in one scene he takes an opportunity to secretly acquire a bag of books, but Jim refuses to take the Bible included in the collection. He shoves the Bible aside with great bitterness. As a Bible-believing Christian I found that scene sad, but very understandable. Jim’s owners and tormentors misused the Bible to justify their sinful deeds. They discredited the God of the Bible. It is amazing to me that such “Christians” think they will not be held to account for their atrocities.
The journey down river is terrifying. The pair falls into and out of the hands of thieves, kidnappers, wicked slave owners, slaves satisfied with their bondage, and two-faced friends.
If you decide to read James be prepared for some shocking brutality, but Everett also skillfully weaves in humor and irony for comic relief amid great danger. One scene depicts twelve minstrel singers performing, that is White performers in blackface making fun of Black people for an all-White audience. Secretly, Jim and another escaped slave perform. Discovery could mean death. The people love the show and afterwards Jim has the harrowing experience of a flirtatious woman pursuing him. Another audience member proudly asserts that he was not fooled by their makeup, because “I kin smell a slave from half a mile away.”
I recommend James as a fantastic tale of a man who overcomes fear and courageously fights for what is his and in so doing establishes his identity as a complete human being. It is also an excellent, though painful, reminder of part of our shared history as Americans.