Having not grown up in a home with a supportive family, Huck seems to have attached himself to Jim as an alternative family member. Likewise, Jim seems to have a protective presence over Huck, much as a father would. This relationship began to build once Huck and Jim both met on the Island, and their father-son-type bond seems to be strengthening as the chapters go on. Huck's devotion to Jim is apparent when Huck goes ashore to find out what the word about his death was. When he was informed that townspeople suspected Jim, his reaction was, "I had got so uneasy I couldn't set still. I had to do something with my hands; so I took up a needle of the table and went to threading it. My hands shook, and I was making a bad job of it" (Twain 64). Huck's loyalty to Jim is expressed through the nervousness he felt when he realized that Jim could be in potential danger. Huck looks to Jim as a fatherly figure, trusting him, and finding comfort in his presence.
Jim and Huck share a mutual dependence and loyalty to one another. Through the chapters, they seem to be getting closer. Their parallel situations have brought them together and created the father-son bond that they feel. When Huck loses sight of the raft in the fog while he is on the canoe, they both go into a panic. Jim later tells Huck how he was feeling while they were separated, "When I got all wore out with work, en wid de callin' for you, en went to sleep, my heart was mos' broke bekase you wuz los', en I didn' kyer no' mo' what become er me en de raf'" (Twain 89). Jim's previous desperation is apparent when he tells Huck exactly how he was feeling. Much as a father would feel about a son, Jim felt that he would not be able to go on without Huck if he were to be lost or had drowned. The father-son relationship has been built upon the adventures Huck and Jim have spent together. Their relationship will most likely only be stronger as the book progresses.
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