Mark Twain has come under much scrutiny for his now deemed racist texts. At the time he was writing, the terminologies used to describe African Americans were considered socially acceptable. Today, however, they are considered reprehensible. I feel that when reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, we must address the racial issues present there.

Although The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is not a “picture book,” it is often accompanied by illustrations. I find it especially interesting to look at the drawings of Jim, since they are very telling of race relations at the time. Most of these drawings are from Huck Finn, but related to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

As the author suggests, many of the pictures of Jim seem to portray him as more of a caricature than as a character. He is also presented this way in the text. His manner of speaking is much more broken than the other characters. This could be contributed to the lack of education at the time. Twain also uses the n-word rather liberally. In his defense, Twain wrote for the common people, and this is how they related to African-Americans. Unfortunately, it would not be believable to the common (white) person that slaves would be articulate.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer did not have as much blatant racism as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn did. This is because Jim was a much more prominent character in the sequel. However, the presentations of Jim that we did encounter were still rife with racist undertones. In Chapter 2, the narrator states “although the pump was only a hundred and fifty yards off, Jim never got back with a bucket of water under an hour—and even then somebody generally had to go after him.” This could be viewed as a character flaw of Jim’s, or it could be viewed as a white author calling African Americans lazy, easily distracted, and irresponsible. I think it is worthwhile to address these texts as partners and to discuss them side-by-side. The questions that the reader is left with after reading Tom Sawyer can be answered by Huck Finn. As a reader, I am curious about Jim when he is mentioned in Tom Sawyer, so I appreciate exploring his character more in Huck Finn.

The racism that Twain is usually under attack for involves his portrayal of Jim, but equally important is his portrayal of Injun Joe. Even his name is derogatory. He is seen as a scary and possibly harmful man, and although tales of him are plentiful, we do not have genuine proof that he is dangerous. His race is seen as a mark against him and contributing to his reputation, especially since it is part of his nickname. It is also interesting to notice that Joe’s race is placed before his birth name, that which represents his actual identity. It could be argued, however, that the “Injun” part of his name was used to differentiate between him and Tom’s friend Joe.

I think it is important to address these issues, but I think it is also important to credit Twain for including African-American and Native American characters. He allowed us this opportunity to discuss past and present racism by placing it in a children’s book. He also gave parents the opportunity to explain race relations.