Booker Prize finalist: ‘James’ boldly reimagines an American classic

FROM code-switching to holding internal debates with philosophers such as John Locke and Voltaire, African-American author Percival Everett’s bold new novel titled James radically changes the narrative perspective in Mark Twain’s classic novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from that of a white boy (Huckleberry Finn) to an enslaved Black man (Jim, or James).

Published in 1884, the source novel provides a direct account of Huck as he embarks on a journey down the Mississippi River to escape his abusive father. He forms a bond with Jim, an enslaved man who had fled upon learning that he will be sold, and who becomes Huck’s sidekick for the rest of the journey. The book explores themes of friendship, freedom and the failed morality of a racially divided society.

While Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often interpreted as a satire that bravely challenges the pervasive racism of 19th-century America, the novel has also become one of the most frequently banned works in the country. According to the American Library Association, it was the fifth most-challenged book during the 1990s, because of its frequent use of racial slurs and its stereotypical portrayal of Jim as a loyal and submissive slave. 

In media interviews, James’ author Everett cheekily says that he hopes for his new novel to be banned too, to irritate “people who do not think and read”, and provoke a discourse on institutionalised racism. Everett’s oeuvre encompasses more than 30 books, including novels such as Erasure (2001), where he satirises the publishing industry’s treatment of Black authors, and The Trees (2021), a Booker Prize-shortlisted novel that tackles America’s history of lynching Black individuals. 

In James, Everett does not simply retell the American classic; he reimagines it as a profound exploration of identity and survival, creating a story that stands independently. He delves deeply into Jim’s struggles and emotions, giving him the agency and voice that were missing in Twain’s original. Everett underscores this point in an interview, stating, “I do not view the work as a corrective, but rather I see myself in conversation with Twain.”

Readers are forced to confront the enduring impacts of systemic oppression, while being drawn into Jim’s inner world. His journey is no longer just about escape, but a desperate desire to free his wife and daughter from slavery. The result is a much darker story compared with Twain’s novel of a boy’s mischievous escapades.

Spanning over 300 pages, James shifts from the original Antebellum South setting to the cusp of the American Civil War when many enslaved individuals escaped to the North. As the town believes Huck has been murdered, Jim becomes the prime suspect. This makes his quest all the more precarious, with every step carrying the risk of being hunted down.

Everett breathes life into Jim, moulding him into an intelligent and introspective man who wrestles with the meaning of being truly “seen” in a world he refers to as “hell”, where he is viewed as property. It is at the end of the novel that the reader can fully appreciate the significance of the title, a self-chosen name that marks Jim’s full reclamation of himself.

His path of empowerment is symbolised by the pencil he uses that was tragically obtained from another slave, who was whipped and lynched after his master discovered the theft. With every word Jim scribbles, he is not just recounting his journey but also crafting a narrative where he is willing himself, as he says, “into being”.

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Everett introduces compelling scenes that reveal Jim’s harrowing experiences during his separation from Huck, moments that were left largely unexplained in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. One striking event is Jim’s purchase by the Virginia Minstrels, a historical blackface singing troupe infamous for performing Southern folk songs such as Dixie and Jimmy Crack Corn.

The scene serves as a critique of cultural appropriation where aspects of marginalised communities are commodified without acknowledging the people or their struggles. Since Black performers were barred from the stage, the troupe members don blackface to conceal Jim’s ethnicity, underscoring the grotesque absurdity of a society that denies Black individuals their humanity while profiting from their culture. The horror is intensified when another runaway slave lightens the skin around Jim’s eyes to ensure his darkened face appears convincing enough for white consumption. 

With shocking turns, particularly for fans of Twain’s work, and profound moral dilemmas, James is both suspenseful and heart-wrenching. As Everett wittily notes in his acknowledgements, “Heaven for the climate; hell for my long-awaited lunch with Mark Twain”, a fitting tribute to a beloved but contentious masterpiece of English literature.