Dictionaries describe a hero as: 1 a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities and 2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child. The foundation of the word hero has much to say about the concepts of literary heroes, such as those found in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The unlikely nature of the heroes in the work is important to the messages of the work, and the surprise of who really is the hero, not the main character but the protector and black man who is denigrated throughout, Jim.
             The work opens with two mischievous boys perpetrating a late night escape from their homes and almost getting caught by Jim. When they are waiting out the old black man they hide in the bushes with Jim close by waiting to hear them again so he can respond to whatever is happening outside. (Twain 6) Jim is from the beginning the boy's voluntary protector, first by trying to protect the home and later by trying to protect the boys on their adventures.
             A little trick that Tom, plays on Jim that night, establishes him as a known hero, with bravery and knowledge of witches. Though it may seem like an unimportant aside in the work it sends a message about Jim's character that demonstrates his recognition and bravery. In a culture that was highly superstitious, often talking about witches and ghosts, under the breath, Jim experiences an event that though completely blown out of reality is remarkable to all around. Tome sneaks back after Jim falls asleep waiting to hear the sneaky boys again, and hangs his hat from a branch above his bed and then sets a nickel on the counter in the kitchen to pay for supplies they take. What occurs in that Jim, upon waking believes a witch, who has plucked his hat from his head and then hung it from ...