When it comes to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Julius Lester wrote a critique on the black morality and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn....

Julius Lester’s analysis of the way Twain characterized Jim as a black slave is his main argument in his critical essay. Lester believes that if Twain was writing an anti-slavery book and using satire to point out the racist behavior of white Americans, he could have made Jim more human than just a caricature or stereotype prominent in literature of the time.  Lester feels that Twain made Jim appear “child-like” and ignorant even though he was an adult with a family, and he basically led Huck down the river.  Lester also says that Jim was portrayed as ignorant when he seemingly didn’t know that Illinois was a free state, when he fell prey to superstitions about witches, and when he was duped by Huck’s pranks along the river. 

Lester also finds issues with Twain’s comparison of Huck’s enslavement by his drunken father and the institution of slavery shown by Jim.  Lester maintains that these were two very different experiences and should not have been made to seem as if they are the same.  Although Huck is locked up by Pap in the cabin, Huck still has the freedom and privilege that slaves during that time did not have.  Lester feels that Twain was making light of the profound hardships of slavery. 

Lester also feels in his criticism of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that Twain failed in telling a moral story that treated slavery in the serious way it should have been presented in the novel.  Slaves were characterized as immature, clownish, and as a source of entertainment for the reader, a caricature found in the minstrel performances of the time in the form of the happy slave stereotype.  Lester feels that Jim was not presented as a human being whose life was marginalized and who was fighting valiantly for his freedom and family.  He therefore criticizes Twain for not clearly presenting the moral issue of slavery in the novel.

There are a lot of interpretations of the way Jim is treated in the novel.  Some say that Huck learning to love Jim and see him as a friend he will go to hell for shows what can happen when someone opens their heart and mind and accepts others.

This is a very debated topic, and one only a reader of the book can decide for himself.  Although I can’t help you with how you personally feel, I hope I have given you some guidance in helping you make a decision.