Duality
Among the most important themes in James is duality—the condition of having two distinct aspects within oneself. Percival Everett explores this theme primarily through the character of Jim, whose first-person narration reveals that he possesses a dual identity as a slave who feigns ignorance but is actually highly intelligent. Everett shows the contrast between Jim's public and private selves in the first chapter when Jim's thoughts about Huck and Tom spying on him from the dark yard are out of step with Jim's performance of pretending to believe he is alone; Jim comments that it is always safest for a slave to play along with white people's belittling expectations. Everett builds on the theme of duality when he reveals that Jim is not unique: all black characters in the novel conceal their intelligence and eloquence when around white people as a survival strategy. Norman also represents duality with his ability to pass as white when in reality he is an escaped slave with very light skin. Toward the end of the book, duality also arises in relation to Huck, who learns that he is Jim's son. Jim is reluctant to share this information with Huck because he knows Huck's life will be easier if he continues to pass as white and doesn't have to deal with the burden of grappling with dual identities in a society that coerces black people into representing themselves as lesser beings.
Self-Expression
Everett complements the theme of duality by developing the theme of self-expression. By retelling Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in Jim's first-person voice, Everett foregrounds the importance of hearing the literary classic from the perspective of a character Twain treated as a sidekick to Huck. Jim's internal monologue immediately reveals a depth that readers of Twain's original narrative could not access. Readers of James learn that Jim and other black people choose to express themselves in an affected, uneducated "slave" dialect in order to make sure fragile white people feel comfortable. Everett also builds on the theme of self-expression when Jim gains possession of Daniel Decateur Emmett's notebook and a Faber pencil that Young George risked his life to steal. Having learned to read despite literacy being denied to slaves, Jim discovers the power of writing down his thoughts. Through self-expression, Jim can tell his own story; in this way, Everett conveys the humanity that Twain denied Jim by keeping his thoughts at a distance from the reader.
Survival
Survival—the state of continuing to live in spite of difficult circumstances—is another major theme in James. Everett introduces the theme early in the book when Jim instructs his daughter and other enslaved children to hide their intelligence around white people who will feel threatened if their authority is in any way undermined. The humorous scene, in which children practice the "correct incorrect grammar" of a slave, is tinged with menace: Jim's language lessons are part of enslaved people's survival strategy in a circumstance where any minor slip up could result in a beating, or worse. Survival continues to be an important theme as Jim goes on the run to avoid being sold and he has to survive on the Mississippi River with Huck, avoiding not just the slave hunters hoping to collect the bounty on his head but venous snakes, starvation, and infection. When passing through towns, Jim also has to be careful never to look any white people in the eye—especially women—because the threat of being lynched looms over him constantly. But by the end of the story, Jim alters his survival strategy and sheds much of his caution around violating the unjust rules of the antebellum South: he murders a white overseer, kidnaps Judge Thatcher while speaking in his real voice, and then kills Graham, the slave breeder. Beyond the moral implication, for Jim these actions each carry the threat of torture and a grisly death. However, they are necessary hurdles to overcome on Jim's journey toward freedom.
Vengeance
Vengeance—punishment exacted in response to a injury or wrong—is a significant theme in James. While he is on the run, Jim is intent on doing nothing that will provoke the anger of the white people he encounters who feel it is their right to exercise authority over him. To survive, he goes along with what is expected of him, even when the King and the Duke try to claim him as their slave against Huck's wishes. Jim's plan is simply to escape from whatever situation he ends up in and find a way to earn enough money to buy his wife and daughter out of slavery. However, things change when Jim returns to Miss Watson's plantation to learn Sadie and Lizzie have been sold. While hiding in what used to be his home, Jim witnesses Hopkins, the overseer, rape Katie, a slave. The fact that he does nothing to intervene sits uneasily with Jim, but he discovers an opportunity for vengeance several days later when Hopkins falls asleep on the beach of the same island on which Jim is hiding out. Jim avenges the rapes of Katie and other enslaved women by choking Hopkins to death. Having crossed that moral line, Jim discovers an odd sense of apathy. Because he no longer cares about consequences, Jim vengefully abducts Judge Thatcher and ties him to a sycamore after making him row all night. Jim also exacts his revenge against Graham, the slave breeder in possession of Sadie and Lizzie, by freeing Graham's slaves, burning his field, and shooting him dead. Ultimately, Jim's turn toward revenge is a testament to the difficulty of retaining moral superiority when faced with profoundly cruel and dehumanizing circumstances.
Dehumanization
Dehumanization is an important theme in James. Defined as the process of removing or denying people's positive human qualities, dehumanization first arises in the novel when Miss Watson questions Jim about a book that was out of place on Judge Thatcher's shelves. Jim jokes that he has no use for a book, which plays into Miss Watson's dehumanizing belief that slaves, being racially and intellectually inferior to white people, should be deprived of literacy. Everett develops the theme of dehumanization as he sketches the rest of the plantation, showing how Jim and the other slaves live, with Miss Watson providing less than the bare minimum for their survival, meaning Jim has to steal green wood from the woods to heat the slaves' shanties, and with slaves concealing their capacity for critical thought so as to prop up white people's fragile egos.
The major conflict enters the narrative when Sadie, Jim's wife, learns that their family is going to be separated, with Jim being sold to someone in New Orleans; in this way, Everett shows how the personal lives of slaves are completely disregarded by masters who refuse to extend even the barest courtesy of leaving families intact. Dehumanization of enslaved people also arises as Jim encounters other slaves living in horrific circumstances, such as the men on the slave breeding plantation who are kept shackled to a post like animals, or Brock, the steamboat slave who it seems has never left the engine room and who has no identity apart from his job continuously shoveling coal. When Jim takes his vengeful turn and murders Hopkins, he briefly reflects on the strange apathy he feels. By showing how Jim is pushed toward enacting violence, Everett suggests that it is impossible for Jim to maintain virtuousness when confronted with a systemically dehumanizing society.
Institutional Violence
In James, Everett explores the impact of institutional violence as another major theme. Set at a time when the economy of the American South depended on slave labor, the book underscores how oppressive structures determine Jim’s and other slaves’ place in society, limiting their freedom, enforcing harmful stereotypes, and perpetuating inequality. This institutional framework also enables the physically violent treatment of slaves, who Everett depicts being whipped, lynched, and raped, as well as the psychological violence of denying slaves education, adequate living conditions, and familial bonds. Violence also emerges as a reaction to the constraints imposed by systemic forces when Jim strikes back against Hopkins, Judge Thatcher, and Graham. Ultimately, Everett uses this vengeful turn to probe the ethical complexities of violent resistance to institutional violence and questions whether true freedom can be found in matching an oppressor's tactics.
Freedom From Slavery
Largely explored through Jim's quest to free himself and his family from slavery, freedom is another major theme in James. Everett introduces the theme when Jim, confronted with the threat of being sold and therefore separated from his family, devises a plan to find his way to a "free state" where slavery isn't practiced and earn enough money to return to Mississippi to buy his wife and daughter from Miss Watson. However, Jim soon learns that even so-called free states are not necessarily free. After he swims to the Illinois side of the river, Jim meets a group of slaves who remind him that even though it's a free state, they're still in America, and the local whites pretend they're in Tennessee so they can still practice slavery. As Jim goes on to encounter cruel racists and slaves who "don't mind" being enslaved, he readjusts his idea of freedom, understanding that it may be illusory. The novel closes on an open-ended scene in which Jim and his family arrive in the free state of Iowa. Though they may have escaped the South, a sheriff asks if one of them is Jim, which suggests that the criminal acts Jim committed on his quest for freedom might still land him in federal custody.
