Mr Shelby Character Analysis

At the very beginning of the book, Stowe almost immediately introduces this idea of slavery and it how it morally changes someone in a negative way. The very first scene of the book causes the reader to be touched emotionally, by expressing the struggle that a young slave mother, Eliza, went through. Her son, Harry, was about to be traded by the slave owner, Mr.Shelby (pg. 15), which meant that her family would have been split up and separated from each other forever. Even though this story takes place in Kentucky, where slavery was more mild than some regions more down south, in the terms of how harsh the slave owners treated their slaves, it was still slavery and it was definitely not a perfect kinship between the slave and the master that some thought it up to be. Furthermore, Mr.Shelby was put in a predicament to either sell some of his slaves to make money, or keep them and try to scavenge for money. In that situation, the choice seemed fairly obvious and Mr.Shelby decided to sell Harry and Uncle Tom, so that his family can continue to survive on the plantation(pg. 46). However, since he was the one who made the decision, it perceived him to be the bad guy, even though he had treated his slaves with such care in the past. He would have been ultimately splitting up their family, if they would have not run away (ch. 6). Through these first couple of chapters Stowe incorporates this situation to show how slave owners, even the less intense ones, were still blinded to the morally wrong and morally degrading actions that they were committing. By treating slaves as property, the effects of the slave owner’s actions could be clearly seen, but yet there was still no positive change that resulted in the slaves becoming less materialized.

In one area of the chapter, Shelby mentions that, “Tom is an uncommon fellow; he is certainly worth that sum anywhere,—steady, honest, capable, manages my whole farm like a clock.” (Uncle Toms Cabin). Mr. Shelby also continues on to praise the fact that Tom is a devoted Christian, and that is why he can be trusted. What image that is typically portrayed in slavery is nothing but negative, and sometimes truly disturbing at times type of aspects. It is extremely odd that Mr. Shelby displays a sense of trust, and devotion to a slave. Many imagine that slave owners were terrible, violent, and cruel people. Yet oddly enough, Mr. Shelby doesn’t come off that way whatsoever.

“Not only did slaves believe that they would be chosen by the Lord, there is evidence that many of them felt their owners would be denied salvation” (34). Levine claimed that the slaves uses their beliefs and religion as a “means of escape and opposition” because it gave them a “serious alternative to the societal system created by southern slaveholders” (54.)

This leads to a major issue within the slave community. Slaves possess little knowledge of life outside the plantation or house in which they are working at. This means they have no idea how humans are supposed to be treated, and rather that a “god” would never allow for another to be beaten in such severity. This is an advantage that the slave owners held over the actual slaves. If the slaves were to gain an understanding of the world around them, the “religious” quotes recited by slave owners would quickly lose their worth and soon mean nothing as well as hold no influence over the slaves. Frederick Douglas was fortunate enough to understand this, and even addressed the issue in his life story, “What I have said respecting and against religion, I mean strictly to apply to the slaveholding religion of this land, and with no possible reference to Christianity proper; for, between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference- so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked(71).” Douglas understands that the Christianity practiced by the slave owners was far different from the Christianity intended by Jesus Christ. As Douglas referred to it, the “Slaveholding religion” was prominent throughout the slavery era, not only was this damaging for the slaves,

Many people believe that Christians played a great role in abolishing slavery. However, Douglass’ ideas about religion and its connection to slavery shine a light on the dark side of Christianity. Douglass’ account of his own life is a very eloquent first hand retelling of the suffering and cruelty that many slaves were going through. His account gives a detail of the ills that were committed against the slaves. The atrocities committed by the various different masters varied in intensity depending on the masters’ individual personality (Glancy 42). This first hand narrative gives us a glimpse in to the connection between religion (Christianity) and slavery.

Melinda is a first year recruit in secondary school, who is experiencing a great deal of changes managing pre-adulthood and troublesome circumstances. She experiences difficulty fitting in with different associates, she is appalled by her own particular appearance; for instance "I search for shapes in my face, certainly not a dried face", Melinda conveys what needs to be in a frightful route as a result of the way Andy assaulted her and caused a colossal effect on her life . Luckily, she has an instructor who gives exhortation as lessons to enable them to have the capacity to stand up to each other. Mr. Freeman," the coolest craftsmanship educator", is a skilled craftsman, carefully affected. That makes discretionary school less asking for

Both Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs had similar experiences in regards to their owners getting more involved with religion resulting in a change in the treatment of their slaves. Frederick Douglass’ slave-owner in 1832 was a man called “Captain Auld” by his slaves. Douglass describes him as a “slaveholder without the ability to hold slaves”. However, after attending a Methodist camp-meeting and experiencing religion, Auld becomes crueler. Douglass had the slightest hope that Auld’s involvement with religion would incline him to emancipate his slaves or—at the very least—be more humane and kind. Douglass was disappointed. “Prior to his conversion, he relied upon his own depravity to shield and sustain him in his savage barbarity; but after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty.” The man became more involved in religious activity; it became a part of his everyday life. Douglass provides an example of his master’s usage of religious sanction for cruelty and brutality. Douglass witnesses Auld tie up and whip a young woman while justifying his actions with a passage of Scripture— “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.” Harriet Jacobs had a comparable experience. “When I was told that Dr. Flint had joined the Episcopal church, I was much surprised. I supposed that religion had a purifying effect on the character of men; but the worst persecutions I endured from him were after he

Religion played a rather small but significant role in the slave community. The film talked of how slaves would gather on Sunday's in the woods where they would have secret religious meetings. They would pray, sing songs and create an uplifting attitude that would give them hope and often encourage them to make it through another day. Slave owners were uneasy at the idea of these meetings. They saw these meetings as chances for slaves to congregate and plan to escape. They also didn't like the bible being taught to slaves because they were afraid that the bible might encourage slaves to realize they were being oppressed and inspire them to revolt. In David Walker's Appeal he talks of precisely what the slave owners where fearful of. He discusses how slaves are treated far worse than any other people in history, how no where in the bible before has anyone ever been treated and thought of as not apart of the human race and he even tells slaves

Slave owners used Christianity as an excuse for the awful ways they treated their slaves. Christianity played a major role on the increase of brutality and violence that spirited the slave owners. The scriptures in the Bible were twisted in the eyes of slave owners to how they wanted to interpret them. Douglass had a powerful experience with one of his masters, Thomas Auld. Mr. Auld was not a religious person and treated the slaves very poorly. In August 1832, Auld attended a Methodist camp meeting and that marked the day when he became religious, and suddenly even more cruel. “Prior to his conversion, he relied upon his own depravity to shield and sustain him in his savage barbarity; but after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty.” After becoming religious, Auld uses scripture to justify his cruelty. Douglass thought that with discovering religion and using it, Auld would become more polite as how Douglass viewed Christianity. Unfortunately that was not the case. Auld justifies that being affiliated with religion would not change a person for the better. Being a slave, Douglass found that slave owners found religious sanction for their cruelty. “He that knoweth his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.", was what a slave owner had said to justify why he beat

How did slavery continue to exist despite its inhumane practices? Many of these owners employed the ideas of dehumanizing slaves and religion in order to perpetuate their actions. Dehumanization demoted the societal status of slaves, therefore deeming blacks inferior to their white counterparts. Moreover, although directly opposing religious principles of kindness and avoidance of sin, plantation owners used Christianity as a mechanism to mask their inhumanity and encourage their cruelty toward slaves. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass develops themes of dehumanization and religion, which helps readers understand the techniques slave owners utilized to alleviate their guilt, condone malice toward slaves, and preserve supremacy over colored people in Southern society.

Since Christianity rests on the principle of universal love, no Christian should tolerate slavery. If all people were to put the principle into practice it would be impossible for the oppression and enslavement of one section of humanity. Throughout the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe has illustrated the fact that the system of slavery and principles of Christianity oppose each other. The novel exposes the evils of slavery—its incompatibility with Christian principles—and points the way to its transformation through Christian love through the characterization of some characters in the novel. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Christian principles of forgiveness, compassion, and belief in an afterlife is embodied though the character

The inconsistencies and importance of religion are reocurrences in both The Narrative and Life of Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Augustine St Clare (a character from Uncle Tom’s Cabin) and Frederick Douglass (who is at this time is a slave) seem to have similar viewpoints on religious slave owners. Both St Clare and Douglass see religion as being defiled by the twisted words of slave owners. Frederick describes an incident of a slave beating to portray his message. “I have said my master found religious sanction for his cruelty. He’d tie up a lame young woman and whip her...cutting her in places already made raw with his cruel lash.(p33)” All off this Master Thomas justifies by quoting scripture. “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.(p33)” This

The first character we will discuss is Emily Shelby who is the wife of Arthur Shelby who is a Kentucky Plantation owner and the owner of Uncle Tom. Mrs. Shelby is a kind, loving, and Christian woman who is strongly opposed to slavery and takes it upon herself to treat them with most respect. Mrs. Shelby from a spiritual standpoint cares about her slaves relationship with God and teaches his word to them. Mr. Shelby and Mrs. Shelby treat the slaves with kindness but differ significantly in regards to slavery. Unlike other women of this time period, Mrs. Shelby stands by her views and morals regardless if her

The violence slaves endured was the most vivid representation in Douglass’ portrayal of slavery in the South. No emotion or rage was held back by slaveholders and no pity or sympathy was put forth either. Cruelty and abuse were the only means of control the slaveholders believed would keep order. The pain inflicted upon these individuals, even to the point of death in some cases, fueled the typical master’s obsession with domination and power. However, throughout Douglass’s turmoil, his religious faith remained exceptionally strong. At times he found himself questioning how might his God allow him to endure such grueling circumstances, but he never let his curiosity hinder his faith. He also questioned how a man could call himself a Christian and yet treat another human being in such a humane manner. Douglass could never comprehend how the slaveholders were able to justify slavery through their faith and church as some of his “owners” did.

I Thessalonians 5:15 “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and everyone.” The influence of religion is an everyday guide for most people; it sets up the way they do their day to day living. However, faith does not always mean people are regularly doing the right thing. In Harriet Beacher Stowe’s, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she uses religion as a muse to get her point across about Christianity, and it’s principal role in slavery. Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows a conflict between slavery and Christianity; showing the love of Christians throughout the novel, the non-christians behavior and how slavery is morally injustice.