Judge Thatcher's Books (Symbol)
In Percival Everett's James, Judge Thatcher's book collection serves as a symbol of power. In the first chapter, Miss Watson questions Jim about a book in Judge Thatcher's study that was found out of its usual place. Perceptively, she wonders if Jim was touching Thatcher's books, but Jim is quick to reassure her by joking that he, as an illiterate slave, has no use for books. Later in the story, we learn that Jim, for years, has regularly snuck into Thatcher's study at night to read everything available. Because slave owners such as Miss Watson imposed illiteracy on their slaves, seeing education as a threat to their authority over their slaves, Jim's clandestine reading habit is a direct challenge to the unjust power Miss Watson holds over him. By educating himself in secret, Jim encounters ideas from great thinkers and sharpens his own intellect, taking back power from his cruel masters without them realizing it.
Stolen Pencil (Symbol)
The Faber pencil that Young George steals from his master and gives to Jim is a symbol of sacrifice. When Jim is separated from Huck and washes up on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, he encounters a group of black men who, despite being in a so-called free state, are still enslaved. Jim requests that they bring him a pencil if they can. Young George obliges by pocketing his master's pencil nub one day when the master's papers are blown about by the wind. Young George takes this risk because he wants Jim—a rare slave who can read and write—to write his story. The extent of Young George's sacrifice is not known until Jim witnesses him being whipped as punishment for his presumed guilt in stealing the pencil, which sits in Jim's pocket. Despite the pain of being whipped, Young George grins at Jim encouragingly. Later, Jim hears that Young George was also hanged, showing how deep Young George's sacrifice was. To honor his memory, and that of other unjustly enslaved people, Jim writes his story with a simple tool that so many take for granted.
Code-Switching (Motif)
Throughout James, the act of code-switching—changing between languages or dialects in conversation—arises as a significant motif. Everett introduces the motif in Chapter 1 when Jim's spoken voice around Huck, Tom, and Miss Watson contrasts starkly with his eloquent narration. The reader soon learns that the affected slave dialect Jim uses around white people drops away entirely when he speaks privately with other enslaved people. And it isn't only Jim: all the enslaved people on Miss Watson's plantation and most of the enslaved people Jim encounters while on the run code-switch as necessary. Jim even teaches language lessons to children so they know never to undermine a white person's fragile sense of superiority by giving away that they are more intelligent. By concealing their true voices, Jim and other slaves trick white people into a false sense of security and by extension insulate themselves from violent repercussions. Everett builds on the motif until the novel's climax, when Jim stops code-switching in a symbolic rejection of his former caution. Hellbent on revenge and his family's survival, Jim uses his real voice to instill fear in Judge Thatcher, whose illusions are shattered by the sound of a slave speaking with eloquence and authority.
The Natural Connection Between Jim and Huck (Motif)
Early in James, Everett introduces the motif of supporting characters commenting on the unlikely bond that Jim and Huck seem to have. This first happens in Chapter 1: Miss Watson notifies Jim that Huck's father, an abusive alcoholic, is back in town and she asks Jim to keep an eye on Huck. Jim asks why she is putting this responsibility on him, prompting her to look at the sky and say she doesn't know. The motif arises again in Chapter 3 when Luke notices how Huck gravitates toward Jim for advice. Luke comments to Jim: "There is something about that boy. Something about you and him." Later, Everett builds on the motif when Easter perceives that Huck is not white—a comment Jim quickly disregards but doesn't dispute. At the novel's climax, the reader learns that there is good reason so many people have discerned a connection between Huck and Jim: Jim is Huck's biological father. This revelation justifies Everett's use of the motif, which hinted to the reader that something special undergirded the connection between Jim and Huck.
Jim's Name (Symbol)
Jim's adoption of the name "James" in the last line of the novel symbolizes his emancipation from slavery. Born into slavery, Jim was likely named by his mother's owners. Jim encounters many enslaved people in the novel who go by names such as Easter (a man born on Easter), January and February (named either for the month they were born, or because they were born in a different month), and Doris (a woman's name given to a male). In each of these cases, the given names are either uninventive, or ironic in-jokes at the expense of their slaves, or both. While Jim's name isn't a joke, it is similarly dehumanizing in that it was bestowed on him by people who believed it was their right to name him. At the end of the book, Jim arrives in Iowa, where the sheriff asks if he is "Nigger Jim," the assonant name repeatedly used for him in Twain's original novel. Jim identifies himself as James, "Just James," a more dignified sounding version of Jim that rejects the repetition of the "i" syllable. Having finally escaped slavery and arrived in a free state—and hoping to avoid criminal penalty for his murders—Jim symbolically sheds his former identity.
