Who Is Uncle Tom's Cabin, By Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an 19th century novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that is basically a canon of masterpieces that depict the cruelties of slavery throughout this time period. Stowe uses her novel to spread her opinions of slavery throughout the United States at this time while using typology to tie the whole problem of slavery into Christianity. Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows that a person’s attitude toward religion intertwines with attitude towards slavery. The story follows the characters of Uncle Tom, Eliza, Eva, the St. Clare’s, and

Through Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe communicates to readers that slavery is morally corrupt, by showing the wrong in slave owner's actions, the struggles and heartaches slaves were put through, and how faith and religion ultimately contradicted all that slavery encompassed.

In his article, “The Blessings of Slavery,” George Fitzhugh brings about an argument against the abolitionist movement. In his writings, he speculates on the feelings of a black man under slavery, something that he will never feel or understand without personally going through it.He asserts that slavery is truly good for both white and black men. Along with the idea that black men are inherently lazier, he claims that racism is actually placed on the backs of the white man. These claims are false and rooted in a purposeful misunderstanding of the true nature of slavery.

Today, many people look at slavery as an abomination and as a dark period of our nation’s history. However, when slavery was legal, many thought of it as necessary, even the slaves, and even believed it was a good thing, as to whites, Africans were intellectually inferior. However, Frederick Douglass, in his autobiography The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, debunks the mythology of slavery. Through the use of his experiences and words, he rebukes the romantic image of slavery, testifies against the belief of black intellectual inferiority, and shows how the system was designed to make slaves believe that they were better off as slaves. Through Douglass’s testimonies of his personal experiences, he shows the falsehood of the romantic

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the dehumanization of slaves often occurs, as white plantation owners view slaves as objects undeserving of humane treatment in order to uphold power and warrant their unjust practices. Limiting knowledge and prohibiting education for African Americans was one strategy common among slave owners, as “it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (17). Due to their lack of intellect, slaves could not recognize the injustices of the slavery system and had little chances of escaping. When Mrs. Auld attempts to teach Frederick Douglass how to read and write, Mr. Auld claims, “A n***** should know nothing but to obey

Stowe presents slavery in the only way she knows how, by using the facts. Several sources of other works in American literature contrast on to how Stowe presents slavery in her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The elements of slavery are driven through the reflections of theme, characterization, and setting to show that the way slavery is presented is not contradicting.

As a parallelism, one finds the same pattern in George's fugue. When he enters the hotel, nobody seems to notice him for the fugitive he is suppose to be. Then, as for Eliza, George explains his chances of escape: " I'm pretty well disguised, I fancy ... I don't answer to the advertisement at all" (2494.) By this quote, the reader clearly sees the ignorance of George about the fact that looking like a white could be a chance. George seems to consider his chances to escape by the way he is disguised. Then, as for Eliza, Stowe adds her personal vision by telling the reader that it is more because "George was, by his father's side, of white descent" (2494), that he hadn't been caught by his master. Stowe seems to show the reader that slaves weren't really aware of their chance of being of white color, but that it was determinant of their destiny, despite their own values.

     Published in the early 1850’s, Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a huge impact on our nation and contributed to the tension over slavery. It was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a woman who was involved in religious and feminist causes. Stowe’s influence on the northern states was remarkable. Her fictional novel about slave life of her current time has been thought to be one of the main things that led up to the Civil War. The purpose of writing it, as is often said, was to expose the evils of slavery to the North where many were unaware of just what went on in the rest of the country. The book was remarkably successful and sold 300,000 copies by the end of its first year. It is even rumored that

Uncle Tom is also not used to working down south on a plantation which is where he is now with Legree. Legree never liked Tom, he always had it out for him because he spread the word of god and helped out a lady that was struggling picking enough cotton for the day. Legree was tough on all of his slaves he didn’t care if they died or not he said “I used to doctor them when they were sick and give them clothes and blankets but it was no use, I lost money. Now I just put them straight through sick or well. When one slave is dead, I buy another, and I find it comes cheaper and easier.”(155) Legree has no feelings of grief or sorrow for his slaves. Legree is so harsh that when two of his slaves “ran away” he decided to beat Uncle Tom till he told him where they went, but Uncle Tom didn’t know. Legree is so unpleasant that he beat Uncle Tom so bad just a few days later Uncle Tom died.

The black identity during the nineteenth century in America was one based on a position of inferiority. The inferiority of slaves to their masters was expressed in several different ways, but all were designed to secure a dependent relationship of the slave to the master. Masters often viewed their slaves as deserving of a moral or religious upbringing, and saw themselves as responsible for completing this task. Paternalism transformed the relationship of slave and master into one of child and parent. In such cases the slave may have been spared the abuse of a cruel master, but suffered no less subordination. A benevolent master created a comfortable environment for slaves, ultimately producing complacent,

Mr. Haley says this without a doubt in his mind. He truly believes that slaves have no feelings and aren’t human in fact either. Most white slave owners at the time believed it as well. Slaves were seen a mere object and property. Stowe perceives slavery to be the most inhumane thing ever done in history.

It is extremely difficult for the modern reader to understand and appreciate Uncle Tom’s Cabin because Harriet Beecher Stowe was writing for an audience very different from us. We don’t share the cultural values and myths of Stowe’s time, so her novel doesn’t affect us the way it affected its original readers. For this reason, Uncle Tom’s Cabin has been heavily scrutinized by the modern critic. However, the aspects of the novel that are criticized now are the same aspects that held so much appeal for its original audience.

H.B Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” has therefore been regarded as influential in the manner that it has impacted so many lives of the readers in America. It led to the reduction of slavery by advocating for the oppressed. Moreover, Stowe’ Novel has won impeccable reputation from the readers of these books. However, in spite of all the right things said about Harriet Beecher Stowe’s work, there have been sharp criticisms about her novel. It is said that H.B Stowe has based her work much more on

One advantage of fiction for Stowe, it seems, was the ability it had given her to stretch out an argument and get away with it. If she had written a non-fiction account of the murder of a slave in the same fashion she had Uncle Tom at the hands of Simon Legree, most would have scoffed at her excessive references to the slave's Christ-like character. Stowe could not have done something like this with non-fiction as even a firsthand witness to the event she would not have had the power of the third-person omniscient narrative that she has with the novel genre (Gossett 193). The perspective affords Stowe the opportunity to address the actions of her characters -- like Uncle Tom's Christ-like reply to Legree -- as if it were the actual truth.

While many have criticized Stowe for an overindulgence in her use of sentimentality in Uncle Tom's Cabin, it is clear that the vivid depiction of the pain and suffering of the slaves in the novel functions as an indicting social critique of life under slavery. ."..I've seen `em as would pull a woman's child out of her arms, and set him up to sell, and she screechin' like mad all the time;-very bad policy- damages the article-makes `em quite unfit for service sometimes. I knew a real handsome gal