is certainly a timely book that looks back on slavery in thes,
This is the kind of book that makes me shake my head at humanity, The way “Negroes” are thought of and treated is repulsive, So often I was brought to either tears or anger as I read,
Yes, for sure, the author depicts the good”white” people as well as the bad, That again seems to be our society today,
Why they were thought of as less than human, I will never understand, Even the kindly Mrs. Shelby says of them ”to do my duty to these poor, simple, dependent creatures, ”
The author was an abolitionist , so this book is an anti slavery book, I can just imagine how it was received in, She was also very pro Christianity, There are many references to religion and Christianity throughout the book, There were a couple of instances where I felt this bogged down the story, but for the most part, it did seem integral to the purpose of the book.
An important read that I feel should be read by many more people, especially with what is going on presently, I jist done readin thar book, why, Masr, it dont make no sense to me, Why a man get treated like a dog by another man and the law is all right with that I knoe it dont mean nuthin now we is all civilased with iPads and lor knows what, but whar was it ever OK
Slave narratives are morbidly fascinating to me, it amazes me that slavery was ever “a thing” in civilized countries.
Uncle Tom's Cabin tells the story of a faithful, kind and extremely pious “Uncle Tom” and several characters associated with him, At the beginning of the book, Tom is one of the more fortunate slaves working for the very kind Shelby family who treat their slaves as human beings.
Unfortunately, the head of the family, Arthur Shelby, is considerably less kind than his wife and son and one day decides to sell Tom, Eliza a pretty slave girl, and Elizas young son Harry, to a slave trader.
Eliza makes a run for it, taking her son with her, but Tomincredibly pious man that he isstays put and meekly goes with the slave trader, During his voyage with the slave trader down the Mississippi River Tom lucks out again and meets Augustine St, Clare, a very kind man traveling with his angelic little daughter Eva, Augustine buys Tom and takes him to his home in New Orleans where Tom lives happily for a couple of years, and is promised his freedom by Augustine.
Before the emancipation could happen, however, Toms luck runs out, Augustine dies and Tom is sold againin an auctionby the nasty Mrs, Marie St. Clare. This time, he is bought by the irredeemably evil plantation owner named Simon Legree, leading to the most harrowing part of the book,
Besides being fascinating Uncle Tom's Cabin is also harrowing, disturbing and heartbreaking, This is one of the most historically significant slave narratives ever, it played a major part in helping to bring about the abolition of slavery in the US.
It reminds me of the TV adaptation of sitelink Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the more recent film adaptation of sitelink Twelve Years a Slave.
I have not read either of these books, though I found the TV series and the film very moving, The only other slave narrative I have read is Octavia Butlers beautiful, harrowing and heartbreaking novel sitelink Kindred, What these narratives have in common is the shocking portrayal of an era when people are so unenlightened as to treat fellow human beings as mere tools buying and selling them like animals, splitting up families, in order to sell the individual members as separate items.
The slave traders put a price tag on the slaves on the basis of their physical attributes, One thought kept occurring to me, “why was this ever OK”, OK, in the sense of "sanctioned by law", with certificates of "ownership" and everything, so the people can legitimately own what they could not possibly own human beings are "unownable".
The book is not wall to wall “mans inhumanity to man” however, Harriet Beecher Stowe put in some lighter moments to balance the grimness of the story.
Still, the lighter moments are overwhelmed by the tragic lives of the enslaved characters, Besides being a slave narrative Uncle Tom's Cabin also clearly belongs to the Christian fiction genre, Any atheist reading this book to find out more about slavery in the nineteenth century America is likely to be put off by the Christian piety which underpins just about every page of the book.
There are even scenes which verges on the miraculous or divine intervention, The books religiosity doesnt bother me at all but I think it is fair warning for potential readers looking for a more secular narrative, The characters are very vividly drawn but the eponymous Tom, and the spooky little girl, Eva St, Clare, are too Christlike to be entirely believable,
In any case Uncle Tom's Cabin, as a novel, is very readable, there is not a dull moment and Harriet Beecher Stowe knew what buttons to push to connect with the readers on an emotional level.
However, the novel is literally “preachy” in many placesnot to mention sentimental and melodramatic, If you are OK with all that then the book is highly recommended,
Notes:
Audiobook credit: sitelinkFree Librivox audiobook of Uncle Tom's Cabin, brilliantly read by Mr, John Greenman. Thank you!
sitelinkThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is, in some ways, a slave narrative, and as it is a Mark Twain book you don't have to worry about overwhelming piety!
For some reason, the name “Uncle Tom” has become a derogatory term to suggest “a subservient fool who bows down to the white man”.
This is not how Tom is portrayed in the novel at all, he meekly accepts abuses aimed at himself, but draws the line at being ordered to abuse other slaves.
Thanks for the tip sitelinkKevin!
There is a proslavery genre called sitelinkAntiTom literature written by authors in response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's book.
According to Wikipedia there are more than twenty books of this kind, they generally portray slavery as beneficial for the African Americans who will come a cropper without the white man's supervision.
I don't know what these authors are smoking but I don't want any!
Quotes:
“These critters ain't like white folks, you know they gets over things, only manage right.
Now, they say," said Haley, assuming a candid and confidential air, "that this kind o' trade is hardening to the feelings but I never found it so, Fact is, I never could do things up the way some fellers manage the business, 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 timevery bad policydamages the articlemakes 'em quite unfit for service sometimes.
”
“He was possessed of a handsome person and pleasing manners, and was a general favorite in the factory, Nevertheless, as this young man was in the eye of the law not a man, but a thing, all these superior qualifications were subject to the control of a vulgar, narrowminded, tyrannical master.
”
“That is to say, the Lord made 'em men, and it's a hard squeeze gettin 'em down into beasts”
“For, sir, he was a man,and you are but another man.
And, woman, though dressed in silk and jewels, you are but a woman, and, in life's great straits and mighty griefs, ye feel but one sorrow!”
“I defy anybody on earth to read our slavecode, as it stands in our lawbooks, and make anything else of it.
Talk of the abuses of slavery! Humbug! The thing itself is the essence of all abuse! And the only reason why the land don't sink under it, like Sodom and Gomorrah, is because it is used in a way infinitely better than it is.
For pity's sake, for shame's sake, because we are men born of women, and not savage beasts, many of us do not, and dare not,we would scorn to use the full power which our savage laws put into our hands.
And he who goes the furthest, and does the worst, only uses within limits the power that the law gives him, ”
“Why, because my brother Quashy is ignorant and weak, and I am intelligent and strong,because I know how, and can do it,therefore, I may steal all he has, keep it, and give him only such and so much as suits my fancy.
Whatever is too hard, too dirty, too disagreeable, for me, I may set Quashy to doing, Because I don't like work, Quashy shall work, Because the sun burns me, Quashy shall stay in the sun, Quashy shall earn the money, and I will spend it, Quashy shall lie down in every puddle, that I may walk over dryshod, Quashy shall do my will, and not his, all the days of his mortal life, and have such chance of getting to heaven, at last, as I find convenient.
”
ONE READER'S CONFUSION ABOUT WHY "UNCLE TOM" MEANS ANYTHING BUT HERO
,stars. First, I am glad I have finally read this book given its historical significance and the very positive impact that it had on American history, That said, from a literary perspective, I didn't find this book to be particularly well written and am doubtful of whether it would be much remembered or considered a "classic" but for the aforementioned historical significance and the creation of the character of Uncle Tom more on that below.
The prose is not horrible, but neither is it exceptional, It's just okay.
Since I assume everyone is familiar with the substance and background of the book I will not summarize it here, Others have done a much bettermjob of it, However, I do want to share an observation about the main character, Uncle Tom, that struck me pretty hard,
Prior to reading this book, if you would have asked me about the character of Uncle Tom, I would have said that he was a character portrayed as a "weak willed" slave who did everything he could to please his white master no matter what abuses were heaped upon him.
This opinion, wrong as I now think it is, would have been based in large part on the derogatory nature of the term "Uncle Tom" in the African American community as someone who has "sold out" their heritage and beliefs in order to be successful.
After reading the book, I don't think I can adequately express how STRONGLY I disagree with that characterization, I would place Uncle Tom among the pantheon of truly HEROIC figures in American literature, Granted, Tom was no Hollywood squarejaw who armored up and went Braveheart on the slave holders slaughtering them by the bushel, However, he was most definitely a HERO in the mold of "Gandhi" who NEVER ONCE, . . NEVER ONCE compromised his principals and belief in "non violence" and Tom CHANGED those around him both white and black for the better,
Tom's non violence came not from fear or cowardice, but from his deeply held Christian faith and his belief that he would rather suffer unjustly as Christ did than raise a hand to another.
Whether you agree with that philosophy or not, it is beyond debate that to accept hardship rather than compromise your inner compass is called INTEGRITY, . . it's called COURAGE.
In one very memorable part of the book, Tom is ordered by his sadistic slave owner to whip a female slave, Tom refuses and is savagely beaten, Thereafter, Tom is repeatedly beaten because he continues to refuse to engage in conduct he finds reprehensible, Despite this repeated abuse, Tom NEVER, NEVER backs down or compromises on his beliefs, In fact, the book goes on to describe the slave owner's realization that while he may own Tom's body, he could never acquire his soul, FOLKS, FOR ME, THAT IS A HERO!!! How many people would subject themselves to that kind of abuse rather than rationalize their principals,
Reading that portion of the book, I was struck by the similarities between that scene and a speech given by Gandhi in the movie with Ben Kingsley which I loved.
While speaking to a group of South African's about the need for "non violent" protest Gandhi says I am paraphrasing somewhat:
, . . This is a cause for which I am prepared to fight, but my friends there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill, . . However, fear not for we can not lose, . . They can beat my body, break my bones, even kill me, . . then they will have my dead body, NOT MY OBEDIENCE!!!, . .
I found Tom's struggle to be very similar and the character of
Tom to be VERY HEROIC, For that reason alone, I bumped this up toand HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book,
.