Faith——Invincible Power

Abstract：

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe, mainly describes the character of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave with faithful religious belief, who dies the death of a Christian martyr. It is also a novel which vividly depicts the reality of slavery while also reflects that Christian love can overcome the devil slavery.

Key word:

Uncle Tom,   slavery,   religious belief

Faith-Invincible Power

1. Introduction of Author and Background Knowledge

Stowe is the daughter of a preacher. People around her are all eccentric and intelligent. In her childhood time, she learned Latin and wrote a geography book. She devotes herself to the abolishment of slavery in her lifetime. Stowe once lived in Cincinnati, of which experience enables her to see the both sides of the slavery debate without losing her abolitionist’s perspective. She often writes some satirical articles on the subjects for the local papers there.

Before creating this work Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she has done a lot of efforts. She writes to Frederick Douglass and others for help in creating a realistic picture of slavery in south. Her black cook and household servants also help her a lot by telling her stories of their slavery days.

The main purpose of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is to convince the readers, especially the northern readers of necessity of abolishing slavery. Most immediately, this novel also serves the response to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made it illegal to give aid to slave. Through this work, Stowe reveals the horrors of the southern slavery to the people in the north. And also emphasizes the importance of Christian love in eradicating oppression. At meantime, she also works in her feminist belief, showing women as equals to men in intelligence, bravery and spiritual strength. Looking through the text, to its impact on its society, the readers may gain understanding of the historical forces contributing to the outbreak of war.

2. Plot

  The story begins with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby facing the loss of his farmer because of heavy debt. Although he and his wife are both warm-hearted and they build a good relationship with their slaves, he still has to sell two of the slaves to Mr. Haley to raise money——one is Uncle Tom, a middle aged man with a wife and children, the other is Harry, the young son of Mrs. Shelby’s maid Eliza. When Mr. Shelby tells his wife this idea, she feels every shocked because she has promised Eliza that they will never sell her son. When Eliza overhears Mr. Shelby’s taking, she decides to run away for she doesn’t want to lose her beloved son. With the help of Quakers, they arrive in the safety. Meantime, Uncle Tom is sold and placed on a riverboat. While on board, Tom meets a young white girl with the purest heart name Eva. Soon, they become good friends. One time, Eva falls into the river, and Tom saves her. To express gratitude, Eva’s father buys Tom from Haley. The time Tom spends with Eva is the happiest time during his lifetime because they share the deep Christian faith. However, happy time is always not long, after Tom has lived with the St. Clare for two years. Eva grows very ill and then dies. Eva’s death has a deep effect on everyone who has known her. St. Chare decides to give Tom free. However, before he could carry out his promise, he dies when trying to settle a brawl.

St. Clare’s cruel wife Marie, sells Tom to a cruel farmer named Simon Legree. Legree takes Tom to a rural Louisiana, where he meets Legree’s other slaves, including Emmeline. Legree always beats Tom severely because Tom refuses to take his order of beating other slaves. While at plantation, Tom meets Cassy, another slave of Legree. Cassy and Emmeline escape successfully finally. However, when Tom refuses to tell Legree where Cassy and Emmeline have gone, Legree orders overseers to beat Tom and finally Tom dies. George Shelby arrives with money in hand to buy Tom’s freedom but it is too late. He returns to the Kentucky farm. After his father’s death, he sets all the slaves free in honor of Tom’s memory.

3. Character Analysis

Uncle Tom: a kind and warm-hearted person with faithful belief in God. Tom insists in his faithful belief in God all the time even at the worst time. Later, the cruel treatment that Tom suffers at the hands of Simon Legree threatens his belief in God, but Tom stands all the sufferings and finally dies as a Christian martyr.

Arthur Shelby: the owner of Uncle Tom in Kentuchy. Although he is well-educated, kind and warm-hearted, finally he sells two of kind slaves to the cruel farmer, of which action is intolerable. Maybe in the grand background of slavery, a lot of people without their own intention of attending the devil slavery are forced to take part in.

Emily Shelby: Mr. Shelby’s wife. She is a woman full of love and wisdom. In the story, she tries her best to influence her husband to help the slaves.

Eva: a white angelic girl. She is so kind and warm-hearted and shows deep sympathy to all people around her including the slaves. She feels great pity about the existence of slavery. In her opinion, there is no difference between the black and the white. Her death also makes deep effect on the people around her.

Simon Legree：A cruel slave owner. His goal is to demoralize Tom and break him of his religious faith; he eventually orders Tom whipped to death out of frustration for his slave's unbreakable belief in God. The novel reveals that, as a young man, he had abandoned his sickly mother for a life at sea, and ignored her letter to see her one last time at her deathbed. He sexually exploits Cassy, who despises him, and later sets his designs on Emmeline.

4. Style

Uncle Tom's Cabin is written in the sentimental and melodramatic style common to 19th century sentimental novels and domestic fiction (also called women's fiction). These genres were the most popular novels of Stowe's time and tended to feature female main characters and a writing style which arouse a reader's sympathy and emotion. Even though Stowe's novel differs from other sentimental novels by focusing on a large theme like slavery and by having a man as the main character, she still set out to elicit certain strong feelings from her readers (such as making them cry at the death of Little Eva). The power in this type of writing can be seen in the reaction of contemporary readers. Georgiana May, a friend of Stowe's, wrote a letter to the author, saying, "I was up last night long after one o'clock, reading and finishing Uncle Tom's Cabin. I could not leave it any more than I could have left a dying child."

 Despite this positive reaction from readers, for decades literary critics dismissed the style found in Uncle Tom's Cabin and other sentimental novels because these books were written by women and so prominently featured "women's sloppy emotions." One literary critic said that had the novel not been about slavery, "it would be just another sentimental novel," while another described the book as "primarily a derivative piece of hack work." In The Literary History of the United States, George F. Whicher called Uncle Tom's Cabin "Sunday-school fiction", full of "broadly conceived melodrama, humor, and pathos."

5. Themes

      The most obvious theme this novel depicts is the evil and immorality of slavery. Although in most parts of the novel, the relationship between slaves and masters seems positive and amicable, that doesn’t mean slavery just narrowly exists. In fact, the author wants to depict such a truth that slavery exists anywhere even in the most ideal place. We can see a lot of characters like Shelby and St. Clare, although they are kind and clever, their tolerance of the slavery still depicts the weakness in the moral. We can see that the slaves still could not escape their sad fate even they meet kind master, just as Shelby still sells two of the kind and loyal slaves under a heavy debt. The slaves even couldn’t escape their suffering fate with the kind master, not alone the evil and cruel slavery. Eva, the most perfect character in the novel, stick to think that there is no difference between the black and the white. While the cruel and evil Legree, with no belief in Christianity, practices slavery almost as a policy of deliberate blasphemy and evil.

      Another theme this novel depicts is the moral power of women. We can see that the time the story happens is the late 1800s, when the women’s rights movement are widespread. Some people this novel behave morally conscientious, committed, and courageous. Throughout the novel, we may see many examples of idealized womanhood, of perfect mothers and wives who try their best to protect and save their children and husbands. Maybe their own effect and force are limited，however, this influence do exist in the history.

5. Comments and Thoughts

     After reading this novel, the most impressive two figures on me is Uncle Tom and Eva. Next I will talk something about these two figures according to my personal perspective. Although I know the author Stowe tries her best to depict an ultimately and completely faithful and loyal figure — Uncle Tom, and this kind of personality may achieve significant effect on that special period with deep religious atmosphere. In my personal perspective, I have very complicated feeling toward Uncle Tom, on the one hand, just as the author tries to describe, I admit Uncle Tom’s loyalty, faithfulness toward God, his kindness, and warm heart . I’m not only once impressed and touched by Uncle Tom’s sacrificial spirit. As a slave, he is always loyal and faithful to all his masters, including the devil and cruel Legree; He is always ready and willing to help other slaves who have the same unfortunate fate as him; He tries his best to show his mercy and kindness to all the people around him；He even forgives Legree and the overseers when he is near death. It seems that he never considers his own life and his own value. The more feeling I have towards Uncle is the pity and anger about his weakness. He behaves so passive and accepted of the slavery and always please his white masters and happy to accept his own position of inferiority. It does exist some chances for him to escape and get rid of his fate as a slave, however, he gives up and misses once chance by another. Uncle Tom’s weakness is reflected more obvious compared wit other slaved who tries their best to fight against the fate and seek freedom and happiness.

      In the beginning, when Mr. Shelby decides to sell the slave, Eliza and uncle Tom give the totally different response towards this decision. When Eliza overhears Mr. and Mrs. Shelby discussing plans to sell Tom and Harry, she determines immediately to run away with her son, because she fears losing her only surviving child. She proves the force and motherly love as well as her strength of spirit by making a spectacular escape. Her brave and decisive action forms sharply contrast with Uncle Tom’s willingly accepted his fate and is sold to cruel master. I feel such great pity that Tom doesn’t take this chance, maybe he could escape and fight against his unfortunate fate as Eliza does, however, he doesn’t.

      As the story goes on, when I read this part Cassy comes to Uncle Tom in the night and tells him that she wants to kill Legree. Tom tells her not to, because it is a sin. I feel rather furious. If killing such a devil and cruel person is a sin, then how about other innocent slaves killed by Legree. Every man is born equally. Every life is precious and we should treat all the lives equally, no matter the black and the white. What’s more, when he encourages Cassy and Emmeline to escape, he himself never considers escaping and getting rid of the unfortunate fate. That’s really so weak and ridiculous of Tom to do so. When I know Legree beats Tom all night, and then he orders Sambo and Quimbo, the overseers, to continue the beating. Tom prays and remains pious to the end, touching Sambo and Quibo’s hearts. Tom prays that their heats can be saved. I really show much sympathy on Tom. However what I strongly doubt is whether it still belong to the faith this kind of acceptance his position of inferiority with happiness and his selflessly endure his trials and love everyone. I suppose the faith of Christianity is to own a kind and warm heart to all living creatures——undoubtedly include the precious and valuable life. Life is always the most precious. It is only with life that Tom can show this mercy and kindness to the people around him. In my personal perspective, to value life is to respect life; to respect life is to respect the faith in God. Thus, I suppose Uncle Tom’s behavior of standing firm in his so-called values and submitting to being beaten for his beliefs and not capitulate or run away is unbearable. It is a reflection of weakness and incompetence. Maybe I’m still too young to fully and deeply understand the whole image of the character of Uncle Tom, however, I’m haunted with complicated and contradictory feeling towards Uncle Tom all the time when I’m reading this novel.

      Another figure impressing me most is Eva. She is so kind, pure, like an angel, full of love in her heart. It seems that she always tries her best to use the power of love to influence and educate the people around her. I even feel that the author tries to take advantage of the power of love to overcome anything devil and cruel, especially the deep-rooted slavery. I feel great pity and sorry for Eva’s death, however, I must believe this kind of death is a kind of quiet and beautiful death. From the novel we can see that Eva’s death proves the crucial catalyst in Ophelia’s transformation, and she comes to love Topsy as a human being, overcoming her racial prejudice. What’s more, after Eva’s death, her father decides to give Tom free. I suppose all these changes should own to the power of love. Although after Eva’s death, Uncle Tom doesn’t get rid of his unfortunate fate and the deep-rooted slavery still exist in society, this power of love does make great influence on that society and also touch and shock my heart.

      When I’m reading this novel, the several supernatural instances the author use make the novel more vividly and also arouse my great interest and appreciation. For example, when Eliza leaps over the Ohio river, jumping rapidly between blocks of ice without fear or pain, the text tells us that she has been endowed with a “strength such as Good gives only to the desperate,” facilitating her escape from oppression. Similarly, when Tom’s faith begins to lapse at the Legree Plantation, he is visited by religious visions, thus sustaining him in his passive resistance of Legree. Another example is before Eva’s death, she glimpses a view of heaven and experiences a miraculous presentiment of her own death, I suppose, the author wants to take advantage of all the supernatural forces to fight against slavery.

      What’s more, when Legree beats Tom, he has an upsetting vision of his dead mother and becomes uneasy and feeling that he is haunted by the ghost in the fog. The fear weakens Legree to the point that Cassy and Emmeline can trick him into believing that ghost haunt the garret, which enable them to escape successfully. Some people may doubt this kind of fabrication. However, in my personal perspective, it is this fabrication that makes the whole novel full mysterious and fantastic colors. I couldn’t help to appreciate author’s great wisdom and ingenious writing skills.

One of the reasons why I like this novel very much is that I appreciate all the happy ending novels. Near the end of this novel, George Shelby frees his slaves and he tells them that when they look at Uncle Toms’ cabin, they should remember their freedom and delicate themselves to leading a Christian life like Uncle Tom’s. It seems that Uncle Sam’s cabin becomes a permanent memory and reminds us now and then that Uncle Tom has suffered a lot as a slave. When I finish reading, the image of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is so close and directly to me firstly and then at the back of Uncle Tom’s cabin we may read and feel the deep meanings. Thus I would rather compare Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a house which opens on eternity.

After I finish reading this novel, I may have a deep understanding of what is the devil slavery and what influence and suffering it bring; I sense the power of love and people’s strong will of overcoming difficulty; I’m deeply touched by the beauty, goodness and truth that exist in all the corners around the world.

This book really taught me a lot. At least, it teaches me to be more optimistic and strongly convinces me if everyone own a gratitude heart, the world will be better. Also this book makes me to have more thoughts on life: add love to a house and you have a home; Add righteousness to a city and you have a community; Add truth to a pile of brick and you have a school; Add all the beautiful things together, we will have a future lighted with the radiant colors of hope.