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Uncle Tom's Cabin Thesis

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The anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, has many richly detailed characters portrayed within. The purpose of the story was to bring slavery, its brutality and inequality, to the forefront of the American public’s attention. Although Stowe usually met slaves that had been freed or escaped from captivity, her visit to Kentucky, a slave state, gave her first-hand experience of the inhumanity of the slave life. Stowe and her husband would employ fugitive slaves and even assist them in escaping to Canada where they could legally be free. It was the fugitive slave act of 1850 and Harriet’s sister-in-law that convinced her to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The fugitive slave act infuriated her and she disobeyed the law by …show more content…

The plot line is split between Tom and Eliza, Harry’s mother. Eliza makes a dramatic escape during the story, with Harry in her arms, this is one of the most memorable parts of the novel. Eventually Eliza and her husband are re-united and escape to Canada with Harry, into freedom. In the other plot line, Tom chooses to protect his family by not running away. He is sold into slavery in the South, where he meets a mischievous young black girl named Topsy. While Tom’s faith is tested during his movement to Louisiana he remains true to God. In the end of the story Tom escapes slavery, he is whipped to death for refusing to deny his faith and for protecting the location of two fugitive …show more content…

Eliza, Harry’s mother, is the Shelby maid and she proves to be a devoted and fierce mother. She makes the most dramatic escape with Harry across the Ohio River, eventually reuniting with George her husband and escaping to Canada. Her strength, spirit and intelligence are meant to endear her to the reader. Tom is the protagonist of the story and is a good man who is devoted to God. Regardless of how dire the situation, Tom keeps his faith and counsel with God through prayer and contemplation. Tom eventually becomes a slave for Mr. Simon Legree, who treats him cruelly, eventually having Tom whipped to death. Tom maintains his faith through the whole ordeal and becomes a martyr in the end. Tom’s fate is meant to open the reader’s eyes to the horror and cruelty that slaves were suffering at the time. Stowe meant to portray Tom’s passivity as heroic and an attitude that should be taken by all when dealing with

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