James Part 1, Chapter 31 Summary & Analysis

Jim lies down to sleep in a tent with Norman and a white man named Big Mike. During the night, he swats at an insect near his ear only to feel a human hand touching his hair. Startled, Jim jumps up to find Polly’s father in the tent, repeating that he just wanted to touch Jim’s wig once more. Emmett appears, equally alarmed. Polly’s father asks why Jim sleeps in makeup and his wig when everyone else has washed. Emmett asks if Polly knows her father sneaks around touching men while they sleep. At this insinuation, Polly’s father runs away, but not before insisting something is “amiss.”

Just as Polly’s father felt entitled to touch Jim’s hair in the previous chapter, now he feels entitled to an explanation for Jim’s appearance. That a slight suspicion led this man to such bold action suggests privileged arrogance. Emmett is able to defuse the situation by threatening Polly’s father’s reputation. It is worth noting that his suspicion that Jim is actually Black is what makes him feel entitled to touch Jim without his consent.

Active Themes

Emmett orders everyone to pack up, worried Polly’s father will return. He apologizes to Jim, which confuses him. Emmett sings Jim a new song titled “Dixie’s Land,” which romanticizes the South. When Emmett denies ownership of Jim, Jim asks if he could just leave right now, if he wanted to. To this, Emmett asserts that he paid 200 dollars for Jim, and he ought to work for him long enough to pay back that amount. At a dollar a day, Jim reasons it will take him 199 days to pay Emmett back. He asks the musician if he is distinguishing between chattel slavery and bonded slavery, but he continues to speak in slave diction. Surprised, Emmett asks Jim to repeat himself, but he declines.

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Emmett’s apology momentarily suggests that he views Jim as the victim in the situation with Polly’s father. Still, he unapologetically idealizes the lives of enslaved people in the South and implies that Jim is obligated to work for him until his “debt” is paid off, proving that he still views Jim as more of a commodity than a person. Jim’s slave talk clashes with his sophisticated question, momentarily exposing his intellect. Jim’s frustration is the likeliest cause for this slip-up, as Emmett’s disapproval for slavery does not stop him from hypocritically stripping Jim of his autonomy as an indentured servant.

Active Themes

James: Part 1, Chapter 31 Summary & Analysis