Pious Niggers In The Odyssey

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.

The author’s white, female characters act as an example for her white, female readers to model themselves after. This argument is more than go out and vote or start protests, because those methods of change are not a reasonable expectation for a group of people whose role is to be polite, hospitable, and demure. Thus, the methods the women are expected to take are indirect by being more subtle and persuasive instead of direct and confrontational. Subtlety and persuasion are demonstrated by the female characters, Mrs. Emily Shelby and Mrs. Mary Bird. Mrs. Shelby used her subtlety to throw off the plans of the slave trader and allowing her slaves to escape. She slyly suggests to her slaves take their time in collecting the horses, before then offering her guest dinner and pushing back the time for eating, because the meal is supposedly not suitable enough for guests. Mrs. Bird discusses her opinion on slavery and fugitive slave laws with her husband in a very womanly manner, respectful and persuasive, in a successful attempt to convince him to take an abolitionist stance in his job as senator. Both Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird are able to receive their desired results by working within their role as women. Even though they are not taking a direct action of fighting slavery, they are still making a difference just through different means. These fictional women are embracing their hidden power of their gender and acting as examples for the real life

The understanding of the life of a slave woman is far beyond the knowledge of you or I, unless you have actually been an enslaved woman. These literary elements depicting the passage from this story are the only

“If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.” (FCF 4).

Stowe’s novel however was intended on having a cultural impact on its readers, the novel has direct references to the Fugitive Slave Act, abolition movement and its influence on the shift in racial politics. Uncle Tom’s cabin reinforces racial thinking upon its readers and reflects Stowe’s colonialist viewpoints.

D.     One of the most important elements that Stowe used to get her point across was Characterization. The message of slavery could not have been accurately portrayed if there was not proper character development. To fully understand what slaves went through, one has to fully understand the mind and heart of a slave. Stowe executes this beautifully with Eliza and Tom. She gives two different detailed and strong viewpoints, which helps the reader understand even more. Stowe includes many stereotypes in her characters. Mr. Haley is the stereotypical slave trader. He is evil, sly, and only cares about making money. This is a character that the reader is supposed to dislike and usually does. Mr. Shelby is supposed to be the “kinder'; slave owner, but Stowe makes it clear that all slavery is evil. The purpose of this character is to show that most men are basically good, but they have been brainwashed to believe that blacks are

White explores the master’s sexual exploitation of their female slaves, and proves this method of oppression to be the defining factor of what sets the female slaves apart from their male counterparts. Citing former slaves White writes, “Christopher Nichols, an escaped slave living in Canada, remembered how his master laid a woman on a bench, threw her clothes over her head, and whipped her. The whipping of a thirteen-year-old Georgia slave girl also had sexual overtones. The girl was put on all fours ‘sometimes her head down, and sometimes up’ and beaten until froth ran from her mouth (33).” The girl’s forced bodily position as well as her total helplessness to stop her master’s torture blatantly reveals the forced sexual trauma many African females endured.

Through the character of Mrs. Shelby, Stowe seems to use her opposition against slavery the most. Mrs. Shelby's character realizes that slavery is unfair, unjust, and most of all unchristian. This theme of opposition of slavery can be compared to that of Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist in early American history. Thoreau was the

      As a clear contrast, through the character of Uncle Tom, a pure Black slave, Stowe illustrates the blindness of the society, about the human nature of slave. Uncle Tom is nothing but the anti-stereotype of a slave, except for his skin's color. First of all, Uncle Tom doesn't have this desire of escape, as most of the slaves were considered to aim to. He is an easygoing person, and accepts what he is destined for.

Despite the attempts of removing the idea that men have “male chauvinism” over women and that men let the mind down below think for them, it’s still a ubiquitous belief in today’s society. Girls have been brought up to know how to be a housewife, while boys have been brought up on the idea of being the one to make the most money and to be the head of the family for generations. As both genders hit puberty, boys start to look at girls and/or other boys in lustful ways, making boys let their area below the belt think for them. In “Circe’s Power”, Louise Glück facilitates the power of Circe in which was first seen in Robert Fagles’ translation of The Odyssey. In both excerpts, it seems that the theme is men don’t care about their partner’s emotions

So Stowe was accurate in portraying Eva’s mother as thinking slaves did not need to read and also accurate in her view of slaves in general. She viewed slaves as inferior when she said slaves were “not made for anything else” but for work (Stowe 286). This is an example or one theme in Stowe’s novel that is right in line with current historical research.

For this essay I will be analyzing the role of women in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In the 19th century it was common for the man to be the head of the house while the women sat back and did all the cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the children. However, when looking at the main and minor characters in the novel, the audience just sees one perspective of these women until digging deeper and realize they all have a specific purpose that is just not as obvious. It also exercises the sense of good and evil in female roles and encourages the use of wisdom and power as a force for social change. Stowe is able to create a vast assortment of female individuals to cover all the different viewpoints women could have in this time period. This novel exemplifies how important children are to women, how gender roles are established, how stereotypical women’s personalities are, and finally how they influence their morals on their family.

This shows that Mrs. Bird is determined to stand by her belief of the cruelty of slavery, and is not willing to accept any defense for it. Even though she is married to a man who supports the Fugitive Slave Act, she does not flinch to defend her morals. As shown above, she also adds in her religious standpoint. She believes that slavery is morally unconscious and un-Christian. Stowe shone a spotlight on the black women in the novel, portraying them as independent, determined, courageous and able. The white female characters who are not morally conscious in the novel, are only so because of the influence of the cruelty of slavery. This novel uses gender equality as a path and tool for a change in the society.

Tompkins argues that “the tears and gestures of Stowe’s characters are not in excess of what they feel; if anything, they fall short of expressing the experiences they point to—salvation, communion, reconciliation” (510). The heart-wrenching scenes of Uncle Tom’s Cabin may strike some critics as overdone, but this is only when the reader refuses to consider the magnitude of the experiences these scenes illustrate.

While Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin overtly deals with the wrongs of slavery from a Christian standpoint, there is a subtle yet strong emphasis on the moral and physical strength of women. Eliza, Eva, Aunt Chloe, and Mrs. Shelby all exhibit remarkable power and understanding of good over evil in ways that most of the male characters in Stowe’s novel. Even Mrs. St. Claire, who is ill throughout most of the book, proves later that she was always physically in control of her actions, however immoral they were. This emotional strength, when compared with the strength of the male characters, shows a belief in women as equals to men (if not more so) uncommon to 19th century literature.