The turning point in the passage occurs as Huck attempts to
harden himself against Jim and prepare himself to do what he believes
is right and Christian. As he lapses into a long interior monologue,
Twain shows us the powerful and compassionate force Jim has had on
Huck through Huck’s syntax.
I’d see him standing my watch on top of his’n, ‘stead of
calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was
when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in
the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such-like times; and
would always call me honey, and . . . said I was the best friend
old Jim ever had in this world, and the only one he’s got now; and
then I happened to look around and see that paper.
This incredibly long sentence literally shows how much Jim
has influenced Huck just because the list is so long. Time after time,
Jim has been the only kind, dependable, and honest person in the novel.
In sharp contrast to those “sivilized” folk attempting to beat righteousness
into Huck, Jim has inspired goodness in Huck through his own considerate
and selfless actions. Huck vainly looks for anything that could give
him an excuse to hurt Jim, but all he can think of is one gracious
deed after another, and then Huck sees “that paper;” that letter written
to the Widow Douglass that is supposedly so good and pure, but in
reality sits there glaring Huck in the face and daring him to do it,
to tear it up. How could the letter stand a chance, compared to all
those good deeds? Huck tears it up and decides he will risk “hell”
in order to do what he knows in his heart is right.
The irony here is clear . . .