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Silence In Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin Essay

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Silence In Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin

"Out of silence," said the Unitarian theologian Carlyle, "comes thy strength."[1] I believe Carlyle is describing one of two kinds of silence. On one side, silence can be negative and harmful. This is the silence of oppression, a controlling force which leaves victims voiceless and the needy helpless. This is not what Carlyle means by his silence. He is invoking a different force. His silence has agency; it is the silence of resistance, of overcoming, and of strength. Today I will examine the sophisticated silence of which Carlyle writes and, contradictory to the dominant archetype, show how silence can become our strength. Many of the characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin are …show more content…

Two factors contribute to Tom's silence being positive. That we know Tom's thoughts is crucial in this scene. His silence is not empty; there are substantial and honorable thoughts that he holds within. If Tom did not have those potentially expressible thoughts, there would be no contrast. Secondly, it is possible for Tom to speak to Haley, but he chooses not to. He does not lower himself by begging for the freedom he knows he could never be granted nor does he grant Haley's desire for dialogue to break the uneasy quiet. Under this awkward surface silence, only Tom is comforted by religious words which "stir up the soul from its depths, and rouse, as with trumpet call, courage, energy, and enthusiasm."[4]

Ken Sawyer, a contemporary Unitarian minister, addresses a silence which stirs the soul in his sermon "And in the Stillness, a Light."[5] Sawyer's arguments for a "greater freedom and ability to be still, to maintain silence, (and) to wait,"[6] stress the same kind of stillness and patience to wait for heaven that get played out in Tom's actions. In this sermon, Sawyer admires Jesus and Buddha for their silent natures. The characteristics which he admires in Jesus and Buddha (Guatama) are characteristics which Tom shares. Sawyer's description of the Buddha being pressured to speak contains many parallels with Tom and Haley's trek by carriage.

Guatama, faced with those big questions many of our

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