Huckleberry Finn and Beloved

Who Themed it Better?

Huckleberry Finn and Beloved both take place in 19th century America, where slavery is very prominent in the south, but in the north the slaves are free. Beloved takes place in the 1860s mostly. It follows the story of a family who escapes slavery in the south and begins living their free lives in the north. Until the slave owner returns to capture them. Sethe, the mother, takes life into her own hands to protect herself and her children. Huckleberry Finn follows a young rebel with a conscience, Huck, on his journey with a runaway slave, Jim, to freedom. Both of these stories take place in a common time period, but that isn't the only thing they share. Huckleberry Finn and Beloved share many very similar themes. In both books the themes - slavery, morals, guilt, and supernatural - are very prominent.

The theme slavery is very prominent in both books mainly because of the time period. In the 1800s slavery was widely common. Many blacks were slaves in the south, and were free in the north. So, it comes as no shock that two novels following the stories of black characters include slavery. Huckleberry Finn includes this theme through Jim. Jim is the runaway slave trying to escape from being sold into slavery again. As a slave, by the whites, he is not thought of as a human being. He is merely thought of as property of his master. Mark Twain writes, "'Well, I reckon! There's a two hundred dollars reward on him. It's like picking money out'n the road'" (Twain 214). This shows that many characters, including this random boy they encounter on the road, believe Jim to be just an object to be bought and sold, not a person. Therefore, throughout the novel Jim is worth different prices; he goes from being worth $40 to $300 to $200 to $1000. Finally at the end of the novel Jim is classified as free. Tom Sawyer says, "Old Miss Watson died two months ago...And set him free in her will" (Twain 289). Jim is set free in the end, and instead of having a price like an object he is priceless. At the end of Huckleberry Finn Jim ends up being a human being which is worth more than any money.

In Beloved both Sethe and Paul D live in slavery. They lived in Sweet Home when they were younger. While at Sweet Home they struggle with the same thing Jim does. They do not know if they identify as property or as people. This is partially because of their different slave owners. Mr. Garner, one of their slave owners, tells other slave owners, "Y'all got boys...Now at Sweet Home, my niggers is men every one of em. Bought em thataway, raised em thataway. Men every one" (Morrison 12). Mr. Garner clearly takes pride in his Sweet Home men. Although his slaves (Paul D and Sethe) are his property and he owns them, Mr. Garner still believes they are people, and deserving of that right. Sethe and Paul D both receive a new slave owner. He is called