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Brian Smith

11/11/2008

English 52 essay

Comparison of Jim and Edna in Society and how both want freedom

There are different types of oppression: passive oppression, that which is

accepted by society but not enforced by law, and active oppression where society sets

forth actual written laws for oppression. Oppression is a major theme in both The

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Awakening. Active oppression dominates

Huck Finn, while passive oppression is frequently seen in The Awakening. Through the

characters of Jim from Huck Finn and Edna from The Awakening, the evils of oppression

are illustrated.

Huckleberry Finn was written post civil war but was a commentary on life before

the abolition of slavery. When Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn he focused on the

evils of Southern society, namely slavery. Jim, Miss Watsons slave, has escaped in an

effort to seek his freedom up north. Jim is a literary tool used by Mark Twain to illustrate

the civil oppressive nature of slavery. Jim is owned by Miss Watson and he is to be sold

at a market in New Orleans for the hefty sum of $800. Jim does not like this because this

sale would separate him from his family. Jim is sold as an object and not thought of as a

person but rather as property. Society says that there is nothing wrong with this, but

according to Jim and Huck something is wrong with this. Jim just wants to be with his

loved ones and Huck does not think that it is right for Jim to be sold because he is just as

much of a human being as his masters are. In a conversation with Huck, Jim calls

himself a rich man because he will be free, and his worth is $800.00. If Jim were to

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escape slavery, it would be considered an illegal act because back in the 1830s all

African Americans were enslaved.

Jims path from oppression of southern society is the river because there are no

rules while rafting down it. The raft and the river represent the path to Huck and Jims

freedom from society. Their plan was to take the raft and flow up north along the river.

Huck wanted to get away from having things in life like education and religion while Jim

wanted to get away from being a slave and sold to an unknown owner who would take

him away from his family. The raft and the river were set up to be the escape route from

society is oppression for Huck and Jim. Jim had to hide whenever people patrolling the

river came near the raft so that Jim would not be captured and sold to someone else for

slavery.

When Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn he focused on the evils of Southern

society, namely slavery. He examined active and real oppression through the slave Jim,

but he also examined passive oppression through Huck himself and the Duke and

King. The Duke and the King are scamming the honest citizens of river towns by

taking their money for play productions that never happen. Jim doesnt understand why

the Duke and King would act this way. Huck explains the actions as normal for

royalty because they feel they can take what they want or need because they are special.

Huck passively accepts these actions.

In Hucks eyes those who are upper class are allowed to take advantage of those

who are considered beneath them. This is the way society was back in the 1830s. Black

people were all supposed to be slaves while white people could just do practically

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whatever they wanted to do with them. Black people were always in danger of losing

their families because they could be sold at anytime their boss wanted to sell them. Huck

wanted to get away from things like education, religion, and having to have clean

clothing, while Jim wanted to get away from being sold in slavery. Huck struggled with

the fact that Jim is a slave because he thought of him as a friend. He understands the

rules of slavery defined by society, but in his heart he knows the Jim is a good man, not

sub-human as slaves were considered in pre civil war days. This is why Huck eventually

helps Jim seek his freedom even though it is against the law. Huck and Jim did not like

the rules of society and their only hope for getting away from all of this was the river.

Huck and Jim both just wanted to live they way that they wanted to live free of the

oppression of society.

The Awakening, first published in the late 1800s, was written to examine the

roles of women in southern society. Edna, the main character in The Awakening is well

positioned in society. Her husband is a successful businessman in New Orleans. She has

two children and she is a beautiful woman, yet she struggles internally with feelings of

self doubt and oppression. Once again we examine society, not actively oppressive as

depicted in Mark Twains description of slavery in Huckleberry Finn, but the passive

oppression of rigid gender roles and class struggles. The reason Edna struggles in her life

is because she wants to pursue independence and individuality, but society will not let

her. She is unable to live where she wants to and is not allowed to go get a job. Edna

just wants to be able to do all the things in life that men can do but cannot just for the fact

that she is a woman. She wants to also be able to go out and socialize whenever she

wants but cannot because of society. Instead Edna must stay home all the time and listen

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Ednas internal struggle between societal restrictions and what she wants to

experience in her own life leads her to an early death. She swims out to sea and drowns

in her own unhappiness and quest for freedom. She just could not deal with all of the

things that have been happening in her life. There was just too much stress in her life and

she also knew that she was never going to get to live the way that she wanted to or love

the man that she wanted to love. Edna knew that she was never going to reach the stage

of independence and get to live like Mademoiselle Reist who she envied just for the

fact that she was unmarried and living independently and take control of her own destiny.

Edna just knew that her dream life was never going to come true and as a result, it lead to

drowning herself out in the sea.

Oppression is destructive whether it is passive or active. Both Jim and Edna are

oppressed by society, but in different ways. Jim for race, slavery and Edna because she

is a woman. It is obvious that oppression can destroy the individuals mind and body.

Both Edna and Jim believe that society places restrictions on certain social strata; in Jims

case he struggles with the concept of slavery and in Ednas case it is gender roles. Both

Jim and Edna are oppressed by the societies they live in and demand the basic human

rights. These stories teach the reader what can happen when oppression exists.