Friendship in Two Novels

As Ann Charters writes in the Introduction to On the Road, Kerouac learned from Fitzgerald "the value of inventing a sympathetic narrator to tell the story of an American hero who fled his past to embrace what he imagined was the freedom of his future" (Kerouac xx). Sal not only narrates Dean's story, but also seeks to emulate his friend's liberated way of life. Dean is the leader of the two, but their developing friendship is what gives the book its spine, for the reader identifies not only with the seeking narrator and the liberated hero but also, and perhaps more importantly, with the intimate connection between the two men.

In the case of Huckleberry Finn, Huck, the leader of the f

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view of Jim as a black, a slave, and a man are ideal. The first time Huck sees Jim in the book he goes to him to have his fortune told, especially with respect to his relationship with his evil father. In this scene Jim is shown to have access to a world of wisdom and subtlety denied to Jim (Twain 18). This tactic on Twain's part is used again and again, as Mailloux writes, in conversations, arguments and debates between the two men which reveal both Jim's superior wisdom and rhetorical skills: "Far from demonstrating Jim's inferior knowledge, the debate dramatizes his argumentative superiority, and in doing so makes a serious ideological point through a rhetoric of humor" (Mailloux 117). The second time they meet Huck feels joy that this man, black or white, slave or free, is with him on the island where Huck hides from his mad, drunken, violent father: "It was Miss Jim's Watson! I bet I was glad to see him. I says: 'Hello, Jim!' and skipped out. . . . I was ever so glad to see Jim. I warn't lonesome now" (Twain 41). Huck and Jim are both fugitives when they meet, brothers on the run from authority, one a slave running from his wicked owner, the other a son running from his wicked father. Friends they may be from the start,
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Huck Huck, Huck Jim, Dean Dean, Kerouac's Sal, Dean Sal, Finn Huck, Road Kerouac, Twain's Mailloux, Sal Dean, Sal Sal, huck jim, huckleberry finn, dean sal, black white, gwyne git, adventures huckleberry, dean moriarity, adventures huckleberry finn, twain 86, jim runaway slave, friendship kerouac, sometimes gwyne git, sometimes gwyne, twain 86 huck,
Approximate Word count = 2234
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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