James
Percival Everett’s latest novel James is a retelling of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, focusing on the enslaved Black side character Jim, who temporarily accompanies Huckleberry Finn on his adventures in the original story. In his novel, Everett gives Jim the opportunity to tell his own story. Jim is an intelligent, eloquent family man with philosophical and societal interests who is forced to work as a slave for Miss Watson. When he learns about her plans to sell him, which would potentially lead to indefinite separation from his wife and daughter, Jim decides to escape to the Northern states in the US. He hopes to be able to start a new life in freedom and eventually reunite with his family. Since Huckleberry Finn also flees his abusive father, Jim and the boy set off together.
This novel is no mere adventure story; instead, identity and self-empowerment are crucial themes that are discussed in relation to the experience of slavery. It explores questions like “What makes someone a slave?” and exposes the social construction of ethnic identity and the false connection between the notion of race and enslavement. Language, literacy, and education are central elements in the novel, underscored by Everett in various interviews. Jim navigates his path despite all adversities, due to his skilled use of different language registers and his socio-political convictions. Interestingly enough, the strategic value of exceptional education and of a masterful command of language are not critically examined. This leaves a lingering notion that marginalized and violently oppressed groups would need to be somehow ‘better’ than their oppressors in order to escape the system of oppression.
The book is easily accessible yet profoundly disturbing: it contains explicit depictions of racism, including racial slurs and portrayals of the minstrel tradition. Both physical and sexual violence are described explicitly and continuously fuel the protagonist’s anger as he seeks to liberate himself and others from this systematic violence. By positioning a formerly secondary character in the spotlight, the novel goes far beyond Mark Twain’s original story. It features profound dialogues that demonstrate the diverse perspectives and fates of Black people during the era of slavery in the US. The novel contains dramatic scenes, offers several plot twists, and stands out due to its determined, intelligent protagonist, as well as other multi-dimensional Black characters who accompany Jim on parts of his journey.
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