Uncle Tom´s Cabin

The aim of this essay is to talk about the aspects that make Harriet Beecher Stowe´s

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) canonical or uncanonical at the time of publication in

comparison with today. The reason why I have chosen to write about this novel is because

it deals with very important issues such as slavery, women´s rights, and their role in mid-

19th century America.

The vast majority of writers who entered the canon were usually men and Stowe was

capable of becoming an important figure in the 1950´s when her book was re-evaluated

because of her use of the vernacular language in the novel. Despite the fact that her book

was very popular at the time of publication, it was not canonical until critics started to re-

evaluate it. In her writing, Stowe represented slaves´ speech realistically. Nevertheless, this

aspect was criticized at the time because it was considered vulgar language.

Stowe is against slavery and she wants to show readers that slavery is unchristian

and cruel. In the novel, Mrs. Bird says to her husband the following: “Now, John, I don´t

know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the

hungry, clothe the naked and comfort the desolate; and that Bible I mean to follow.” (Stowe

91) In this quote, we can clearly see that Stowe uses religion as a weapon against slavery.

The author wants to show people who supported slavery because they thought that

somehow Christianity supported it that they were wrong in doing so. The novel demonstrates

that Christianity promotes moral values and teaches people to be good and to help others.

At the time, Stowe tried to stop owners from oppressing their slaves by arguing that the

Christian religion does not advocate oppression.

Throughout her book, Stowe wants to make people aware of the brutalities of slavery.

In order to do that, she depicts different types of cruelties and mistreatments towards slaves

in very graphic detail. For instance, Tom is beaten to death because he did not want to

reveal where Cassy and Emmeline went. Legree questioned Tom about Cassy´s and

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Emmiline´s escape: "Speak!" thundered Legree, striking him furiously. Do you know

anything?"(Stowe 490) In this quote, Legree strikes Tom because he wants to know where

his slaves went, but Tom refused to give that information: “I know, Mas´r; but I can´t tell

anything. I can die!” (Stowe 490) The reason for this is that he would rather die rather than

betray the slaves.

Prue´s conditions of life are so harsh that she would prefer to be dead rather than to

be a slave. To illustrate my point, let´s look at the following quote: “O Lord! I wish´t I´s dead!

. . . I´d be out o´ my mysery.” (Stowe 249) Prue´s life is so miserable that she finds death as

a relief from slavery. Moreover, the character prefers to go to hell because she thinks that

white people would go to heaven and then she would still have to serve them in the afterlife.

This is demonstrated in the novel when she says the following thing: “I looks like gwine to

heaven,” said the woman; “an’t thar where white folks is gwine? S’pose they’d have me thar?

I’d rather go to torment, and get away from Mas’r and Missis. (Stowe 250) For Prue going to

hell is better than being a slave. She ends up dying after suffering brutal beatings. Moreover,

her baby died of starvation because Missis refused to buy milk for the baby. These are good

depictions of the soulless nature of the slave owners.

The novel demonstrates that slavery is evil even in the situations where masters do

not abuse their slaves physically. For instance, slavery is responsible for the separation of

families. In the novel, several characters are parted from their families. For example, Tom is

separated from his wife when he is sold to Mr. Haley. Tom´s owner wanted to sell Harry as

well but when Harry´s mother finds out about her master´s plan she runs away with her son

to avoid being parted from him. Another case in which family members are parted from each

other is when Cassy´s children were sold to another master as well. Stowe uses the

separation of families in order to evoke sympathy from the readership and to gain support for

the abolition of the slavery system.

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 According to the law at the time, slaves were just considered things or someone´s

possessions. Stowe accurately presents this issue when the narrator describes the slave

warehouse, where slaves are examined before they are sold, as if they were objects. The

scene in which Mr. Legree examines Emmeline illustrates this point clearly: “He put out his

heavy, dirty hand, and the girl towards him; passed it over her neck and bust, felt her arms,

looked at her teeth, and then pushed back against her mother, whose patient face showed

the suffering she had been going through at every motion of the hideous stranger. The girl

was frightened, and began to cry.” (Stowe 395) By touching her, he is violating her personal

space and he is not respecting her as a human being.

Uncle Tom´s Cabin is not only an anti-slavery novel, but also a novel which promotes

women´s rights. At the time of the novel´s publication, women were associated with the

private and domestic life. On the other hand, men were associated with public roles in the

social world. Business was the domain of men at the time. The author rejects the traditional

roles of a woman only taking care of home duties. This is demonstrated in Uncle Tom´s

Cabin when Mrs. Shelby tries to help her husband with the plantation finances. However, he

does not take into consideration her suggestions and he says to her the following: "O,

ridiculous, Emily! You are the finest woman in Kentucky; but still you haven't to know that

you don't understand business; -- women never do, and never can . . . You don't know

anything about business, I tell you." (Stowe 296) Mr. Shelby thinks that women are ignorant

about business.

Stowe also claims that women have a strong influence on the men around them. For

instance, Mr. Bird, who voted for the Fugitive Slave Low, ends up helping Eliza to escape

from slavery after being scolded by his wife. Women question men´s opinions regarding

slavery. For instance, Mrs. Bird criticizes her husband once she found out about the low her

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husband voted for: “You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor, homeless, houseless creatures!

It’s a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I’ll break it, for one, the first time I get a

chance.” (Stowe 91) Mrs. Bird argues against slavery and she says that she is willing to offer

help to slaves when needed. Another woman who questions slavery is Miss Ophelia. She

defines slavery as: “an abominable business, -- perfectly horrible!” (Stowe 256). It is clear

from the quote above that Ophelia thinks that slavery is evil.

In conclusion, the slavery system is regarded as inhuman and unfair to slaves. The

reason for this is that slaves are oppressed and deprived of enjoyment of their own life.

Uncle Tom´s Cabin aims to present the cruelties of the slavery institution to the reader.

Slaves are seen as a property that can be sold at anytime. They endure harsh conditions of

life, lack freedom and they are separated from their families. Moreover, some of the slaves

are whipped to death. Stowe not only criticises slavery in her novel, but also gender

inequality. The author argues for women´s participation in the public sphere. Women are

important figures in the novel because they are able to influence men to question slavery as

well.

References:

Meyer, Kathryn. Gone For Good: Slave Family Separation In The Slavery Debates. Diss.

Emory University, 2010. Print.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom´s Cabin. 1st ed. Global Grey, 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.