Essay #5

The term homosexual is defined as being sexually attracted to someone of one’s own sex. For the purpose of this essay, it can be defined as a romantic love between two people of the same gender. In his essay, “Come Back to the Raft Ag’in, Huck Honey!,” Leslie Fiedler suggests that the relationship between Huck and Jim is expressed as homosexual attraction involving a young White boy and an older African-American man. Although Mr. Fiedler writes that Huck and Jim’s activities translate to a homoerotic relationship, I disagree with him because Huck and Jim’s relationship is more like one between a father and son. They have a certain love for one another but without romantic connections.

In the book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is a character who most of the time depends on someone who is older than him. Huck is only fourteen years old, and he needs someone to support him and provide him love. Huck has gone through many problems in his life. He doesn’t have a mother, who is usually one of the main positive influential persons, and even though Huck has a father, he has never been a good father for him. For this reason, he doesn’t know what is right or wrong. Huck makes a choice from what he feels is right. His father is the worst father that anyone could have. The only thing that Huck learns from his father is not to be a successful person.

Throughout the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim’s relationship is growing during their struggle and dangerous voyage. They support each other throughout their journey. Moreover, they both have the same general goal, which is to get away from bad things in their lives. Each experience between these two builds a stronger and deeper relationship. For example, one day, Huck is forced to make a decision whether or not to turn Jim in. At the end, Huck decides against turning Jim in, which Huck thinks is the right thing for him to do; even though, he knows the law. Huck says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (Twain 201). This action shows that Huck will sacrifice for Jim, like a son who tries to protect his father, or a friend who cares for his own companion.

While Huck and Jim are traveling down the river, it appears that Jim is becoming more of a father figure to Huck. For example, one night, they find a house floating down the river and a dead body inside the house. It appears that the dead man is Huck’s father. Jim tries to protect Huck from feeling pain and being depressed like a father would do for his son. Jim knows that if Huck sees his real father’s dead body, Huck will get scared. Jim puts a rag over Huck’s father and tells Huck not to look at the dead man. This is an example of a good parenting, not homosexuality between Huck and Jim as Mr. Fiedler writes.