SSFPL Book Club: James by Percival Everett

Huckleberry Finn, acclaimed by many as a great American novel, has also been sharply criticized for its racist portrayal of Jim, the childlike enslaved man Huck befriends on their riverboat journey.  Percival Everett rewrites the story as a liberation narrative, told from Jim (or rather James') point of view. Erudite, a student of philosophy, and a calm strategic thinker, James is adept at "code shifting" from his normal dignified speech and behavior patterns to the shuffling, aw-shucks demeanor white folks expect, and even gives speech translation lessons to the plantation's enslaved children (disturbingly similar to "The Talk" modern Black parents give their children about police encounters). When he is accused of robbery and murder, James flees with an initially gleeful Huck, who only gradually understands the terrifying reality of being a Black man with a price on his head. As Huck comes to acknowledge the depth of his relationship with James, and the slave's profound gifts, the boy is forced to recognize the illogic of white supremacy and privilege. Meanwhile James, determined to return and rescue his wife and daughter, takes the story in a completely different direction than the original, exemplifying the relentless courage and moral clarity of an honorable man with nothing to lose.