Discuss the depiction of Jim in the closing chapters of the novel. Can you reconcile him as both the victim of Tom Sawyer's ridiculous "ambuscade" and the noble soul who risks his long-sought freedom to save Tom's life?

We can certainly reconcile the two, because Jim fits both descriptions. He was a slave, he's uneducated, he's been misled, and he's too trusting, but he also has a huge heart, and is capable of both love and loyalty. Jim's feelings for Huck are really no different from his feelings for the children he wishes to be reunited with...... he's a loyal friend, a friend who goes above and beyond. The fact that Tom plays on hos ignorance, most certainly does not change the person. If anything, we have a difficult reconciling Tom's actions in freeing an innocent man.