Uncle Tom's Cabin is a book that I have heard about in history classes, well, forever. Even in my, shall we say, less than impressive middle and high school social studies classes, I remember it at least being mentioned. I bought it in a used book store and even while purchasing it I thought I had a good handle on exactly what I was getting myself into. I won't give a "book report" but will rather discuss some of the things that stuck out to me.
I was prepared to read of unimaginable horror faced by slaves for 379 pages. But that was not the case. I commend Harriet Beecher Stowe for showing a seemingly innocent type of slavery not only in Kentucky (where that was more common) but also in New Orleans where it was quite rare. However, even as well as these "servants" (as their masters preferred to call them) were treated it did not change the fact that they desired freedom. Stowe even gives a real life example of a slave-holder being surprised to find out his well-to-do slave would want freedom.
Stowe seemed well aware that Northerners (whom she cut no slack) would not respond well to a book that showed only unimaginable physical abuse. Most Northern people at the time believed that such ocurences were such a rarity they probably would have paid little mind to such a book. Stowe knew just how to reel the people in and show emotional horrors faced by slaves, which is often much worse than physical.
The protagonist of the story is Uncle Tom. From the time he is living as happily as seems possible in slavery, with his wife and children, learning to read, trusted to travel alone, etc. until the time that he is beaten to death in New Orleans by a truly horrible man, his faith is never shaken. His willingness to tell others of Jesus is childlike in it's purity and you are left wondering at the end, if your faith would remain unshakable in such a situation. Upon being sold South (which was a terrible thing to a slave from Kentucky) his wife is crying and worried and Uncle Tom simply says "There'll be the same God there, Chloe, that there is here."
All of the characters in this book are so vivid. There is no character that leaves you feeling indifferent about them. You either fall in love with or loathe them. Tom's first master in New Orleans, St. Claire, was my favorite character. He reminded me of someone I know (though I won't say who). His views on slavery, his humor, his unwillingness to go to church because of all the church was upholding at the time made him seem like he could single handedly put an end to such a vile system.
"Religion! Is that what you hear at church religion? Is that which can bend and turn, and descend and ascend to fit every crooked phase of selfish worldly society, religion? Is that religion which is less scrupulous, less generous, less just, less considerate for man, than even my own ungodly, worldly, blinded nature? No! When I look for a religion, I must look for something above me, and not something beneath."
Not until the end of the book did Stowe begin the shock and awe view of slavery, which was not overdone and was completely warranted. Tom's last master was a dick. Excuse my lack of a vocabulary but much like St. Claire's wife I would have liked to have given him a piece of my mind. To think that even one such man could be responsible (or rather irresponsible) with so many slaves still sickens me to the core.
The impact this book had on America leading up to the Civil War is probably even more than I realize. I've heard told 100 times (though whether or not it is true will probably never be known) that upon meeting Stowe, President Lincoln said to her "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." Oh, Abe.
No, Uncle Tom's Cabin is not considered non-fiction. However, each story told represents either something the author witnessed or a story told to her by someone witnessing such things. I cried more than once, not surprisingly. The talk of liberty and what it should mean to all of us is heartbreaking. When one successful runaway says "I have no wish to pass for an American, or to identify myself with them." You begin to feel the same way.
I laugh sometimes as I hear pastor's from the pulpit go on and on about our forefathers. Some of them, no doubt, great men with amazing minds. But they upheld this institution, should we really be trying to "get back to how they intended it?" There should be one man we are trying to live our lives like and let me tell ya, it ain't Tommy Jefferson. Uncle Tom held fast to Jesus until the very end and that's what I hope to do.
Read it!
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