James Part Three, Chapters 5–8 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Part Three, Chapters 5–8

Part Three, Chapter 5

Jim and Huck finally arrive back in Hannibal, and they make their way to Jim’s house. The air is still as Doris catches sight of them, asking where Jim has been in his normal way of speaking before repeating the question for Huck’s benefit in his slave dialect. Jim pushes his way into his house and is horrified to see a man and woman inside with Sadie and Lizzie nowhere to be found. Doris gently explains that Sadie and Lizzie were sold, and Jim breaks down. He begs Doris for any information regarding their whereabouts, but he knows nothing. Jim then turns to Huck, asking him for help. Huck first doubts his abilities, but he soon comes to think of searching for Sadie and Lizzie as an adventure and even considers recruiting Tom Sawyer to help. After Huck leaves to tell Miss Watson that Jim died in the riverboat crash, Jim asks to rest by the fire. Doris, Cotton, and Katie all vow to keep his secret, both for his safety and their own.

Part Three, Chapter 6

Jim hears a voice speaking French to him and soon realizes that he is dreaming. A woman asks him if he believes that his family is down in the valley ahead of him, and he responds in the affirmative. She laughs about his hope and judges him for believing that anyone wants people like him to be free, eventually revealing herself to be the character Cunégonde from Voltaire’s Candide, a satirical novella about the nature of optimism. Jim awakens to Katie’s voice calling for him to hide. Just as he situates himself behind a barrel, Hopkins, the overseer, enters the house and proceeds to rape Katie. Jim wishes that he could defend her, but he knows that attacking Hopkins would only lead to the deaths of himself and many other slaves. Once Hopkins leaves, Jim decides to return to his cave on Jackson Island. He does so without telling anyone and believes that Huck will know where to find him. Despite everything that Jim has lost along the way, his pencil still sits in his pocket.

Part Three, Chapter 7

Waiting for news about his family feels like an eternity to Jim on the island. He watches groups of white men come and go from the beaches, and the thought of the sexual violence that Katie and surely his wife and daughter experience haunts him. One day, a group of men leave Hopkins, who is drunk and half asleep, behind on the beach. Jim embraces the strength of his anger and approaches Hopkins, takes his pistol, and wakes him up. Hopkins is confused, but he recognizes Jim and demands that his gun be returned. Jim refuses and proceeds to call him out for his treatment of slaves, especially the women. Grabbing Hopkins around the neck, he slowly chokes him until he dies. Jim drags his body to the canoe, smashes a hole in it, and lets both the boat and the body sink into the river.

Part Three, Chapter 8

Jim ponders the morality of his choice to kill Hopkins, debating whether his act of revenge was evil or just. He decides he is apathetic about the entire thing but allows himself to wonder what else he is capable of. Huck eventually finds his way back to Jim, revealing that he is under such careful watch that he had to sneak out of church in order to make it to the island. He explains that the only person who could offer any information about Sadie and Lizzie’s whereabouts was Hopkins, and that he once mentioned something about Graham’s farm. Jim does not mention that he killed Hopkins, as most people assume that he simply drowned in the river. Frustrated that he did not think to question Hopkins before he killed him, Jim vows to never lose control of his emotions. Jim and Huck go on to discuss the war before Huck sails back across the river.

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