Revolutionizing Society What captures the essence of a saintly martyr? In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Tom and Eva St. Clare represent people who die for their beliefs because they refuse to denounce God even during the struggles they faced near their deaths. Within the novel, these two people display their love for the Lord through their loyalty to their religion, their loving attitudes toward everyone, including slaves and slave masters, and their ability to transform others’ lives after their deaths. At the end of their lives, Eva and Tom refused to abandon their religion and wished to see Jesus together. Before Eva dies, she says “I am going there, and you can go there… Jesus will help you. You must pray to him; you must read” (245). Although …show more content…
Eva’s death leads her father to a having a possible relationship with the Lord, when he says “I would, Tom, if there was anybody there when I pray; but it’s all speaking unto nothing when I do. But come, Tom, you pray now, and show me how” (257). Without Eva’s strong faith that transcends her life, her father would have never contemplated accepting Christ as his Savior because of the home life he lived in previously. Her death reveals her father’s true intentions for his own future and forces him to rush the process of freeing his slaves which would not have occurred if Eva lived. Eva’s faith also causes many of the slaves to convert because they believe that Eva spends her days with God and wish to go to Heaven to see her again. When Tom dies at Legree’s plantation, George, his previous master, states, “It was on his grave, that I resolved, before God, that I would never own another slave, while it was possible to free him; that nobody, through me, should ever run the risk of being parted from home and friends, and dying alone on a lonely plantation, as he died” (371). Tom’s martyrdom acts as an analogy because it refers to the change that the North needs to make to prevent further incidents of cruelty among the racist society that they live in. Since Tom’s death causes George to perform good, the North should see that the
Tom Robinson is a kind black man whom Atticus is defending against the charge that he raped Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows that he will lose because Tom is black, but he also knows that Tom is innocent and that he has to defend him. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a hard-working father and husband in the novel and he was only attempting to help Mayella since no one else would, but she made advances that he refused and her father saw them. On the witness stand, he testifies that he helped her because, "'Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun.'" (256). Even though Tom helps Mayella out of kindness and pity, Mayella is trapped and must accuse him of raping her to save her own life. Shortly after being wrongfully convicted
Life has been tough for the teenagers on the street, they all find out about the struggles of living in these cold hard streets. Barbara Haworth-Attard shows us life on the streets of the four main characters in her book theories of relativity. Living on the streets is tough, and these four kids found out the hard way. Most of them will be stuck on the streets forever such as amber, twitch, and Jenna, but Dylan might be able to make it out
Strength is a human trait that can be lost and given up to hopelessness just as easily as it was gained. Giovanna Sienna fought through unimaginable struggles her whole life, but her unwavering strength guided her through her life. Giovanna Costa Pontillo Siena from Laurie Fabian’s book Elizabeth Street is portrayed as the stories strongest person. Her determination to get her beloved daughter, Angelina, back and her lack of fear of the kidnappers who blackmailed her for money, reinforce the conception that Giovanna’s tenacity was unable to be matched. She had connections to powerful people in powerful positions, which help her gain a foothold on getting through to the kidnappers. Her love for her family, primarily her daughter, kept her constantly searching for her daughter and any way to get
Our lady of Guadalupe is the most venerated and respected by the Catholics. The appearance of the Virgin caused a great commotion in the Catholic Church. Ever since the Virgin's first appearance, Catholics have respected and acquired so much faith to the Virgin. The lady of Guadalupe has so many faithful followers that believe in her without any hesitation because of the miracles that she has made for the people that were once suffering and were miraculously helped by her. Because of the help that she has provided for those who were suffering people never forget her and they celebrate the day of her appearance every year by doing parties in her honor. The Lady of Guadalupe’s appearance certainly changed the belief of Catholics and, I believe
In both The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicity and Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, the women in the stories are using scripture to explain and justify the claims they make about their faith and the faith of others. They do this by sharing stories about their life and events in their lives to show how the spirit has been moved into them. Both texts describe how these women see themselves as readers of the Bible, what religious authority each is claiming, and what new social reality each woman is arguing that is in keeping of God’s will for human beings.
All the while I can only imagine what Tom must be thinking. It is an awful situation, yet Mayella is white and he is black, and there is nothing anyone can do about that. More people start to flood into the courthouse, trying to snatch up the best seats as if they were fighting over one hundred dollars. After a half hour passes, I spot Tom and Atticus making their way to his table. This has been the most anticipated moment and day in Maycomb ever since Atticus decided to take the case. When I saw Tom it sent chills down my stiff spine. I need to be here, I have to be here for the town, for the sake of me knowing what happened. For a second, I caught a meaningful glimpse of Tom’s sorrowful eyes and saw that he wasn't a monster and that those were the eyes of an innocent
The narrator’s father is being freed from slavery after the civil war, leads a quiet life. On his deathbed, the narrator’s grandfather is bitter and feels as a traitor to the blacks’ common goal. He advises the narrator’s father to undermine the white people and “agree’em to death and destruction (Ellison 21)” The old man deemed meekness to be treachery. The narrator’s father brings into the book element of emotional and moral ambiguity. Despite the old man’s warnings, the narrator believes that genuine obedience can win him respect and praise.
While lying on her death bed, in Chapter 26 of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, little Eva says to the servants in her house who have gathered around her, "You must remember that each one of you can become angels" (418). In this chapter and the one before it, Eva has actively worked to make the people surrounding her into "angels," taken here to mean one who is saved by God. In chapters 33 and 34 of Stowe's book, Tom similarly works, though more quietly, to turn the other slaves at Simon Legree's plantation into "angels." Both of these scenes, and particularly the evangelical characters within them, reveal Stowe's Methodist theology, a theology that rejects the predestination of earlier American Christianity. In Stowe's theology "each one" of the people can be saved; God's love is universal. Original sin still exists, but now an individual is given control to escape this sin by embracing God's love. At the heart of the theology and the resultant morality that Tom and Eva evince, is a warm, knowable God, who is knowable through love, and the heart.
Atticus is asked to defend Tom Robinson, an African-American man accused of raping a Caucasian woman. The penalty for rape in Maycomb was death. Although Atticus is a single father and has a busy legal practice, he accepts the invitation to defend Tom Robinson. The tone in which he is received for accepting the case would hamper even the bravest of souls. He still carries himself with a certain integrity that transcends time. Atticus personally stands up for Mr. Robinson even with the threat to his own safety. He continues to be neighborly to Mrs. Dubose and her garden, as well as others who he comes in contact with.
After five years of being raised and living with their grandmother whom they truly loved, the girls had a rude awakening. Their grandmother, Sylvia had passed away. “When after almost five years, my grandmother one winter morning eschewed awakening, Lily and Nona were fetched from Spokane and took up housekeeping in Fingerbone, just as my grandmother had wished” (Robinson 29). This was the final attempt that their grandmother had made in order for the girls to have a normal and traditional life. This is a solid example of how the sister’s lives are shaped by their family and their surroundings. Lucille’s ultimate concern in life is to conform to society and live a traditional life. She wishes to have a normal family and is sorrowful for all of the losses that she has experienced such as her mother’s and grandmother’s deaths. On the other hand, Ruthie, after spending more time with her future guardian, Aunt Sylvie, becomes quite the transient like her.
His master wants to take him away from Eliza and is forcing him to marry within the plantation. George is a hardworking slave and his master does not seem to like the praises he would get. His master likes to torment him and make his life not worth living because George is a slave. When George expresses his feelings to Eliza, she tells him to believe in God and pray. George, however, concludes that his “heart’s full of bitterness; [he] can’t trust in God” (Stowe III). George’s master’s son is also like his father. The son, Tom, is a cruel little boy because he beats the horses and he beats George. The readers can infer that Tom will be like his father when he grows up because he is already starting his training to become a slave master with cruelty and callousness like his
These injustices have begun long before Tom’s trial, but it is his trial which epitomizes the problems with our society. The first witness was simply just a misguided fellow named Heck Tate who it seems didn’t have much to offer to the case. Next, Atticus Finch called Bob Ewell to the stand. When I saw Ewell take the stand such a fierce hatred rose within me that I began to shake and tremble. Ewell wrongfully accused Tom of raping his daughter Mayella, however, with the grace of God, Atticus Finch had shown that it was very possible that it was Bob Ewell who because he was a lefty could have beat Mayella. If it were not for great men like Atticus Finch I would have lost all hope for this world. As I watched Mayella take the stand I wondered how such a kind looking person could be someone of such poor character. Her words seemed to paint a picture of a sad life; one where a father neglects her and she has fallen under hard times. Atticus, after pointing out it was probably Bob who beat her, asked Mayella who it really was that beat her. Mayella made it clear it was Tom Robinson, upon which Atticus asked Tom to stand. To the astonishment of the court Tom was handicapped! Tom was then called to the stand where he laid open for all to see the truth, explaining that it was Mayella who came on to him (that treacherous woman!). Soon enough the trial ended and every one awaited the verdict of the jury. The next few hours were the most nerve wracking of my life.
Tom is good natured and deals with what life throws at him, during the long trip towards work the family has realized the can count on Tom to help protect them. His past isn't going to define his future or change the way he feels about his family. As they arrive to California they get the devastating news that work is sparse and many people are dying of starvation, including Grampa who dies of a stroke. When the major change of losing a family member Tom realizes that life can be gone faster than you think and you see him changing into a more considerate person and a more sentimental person towards others. After they have buried Grampa, Tom comes across a “one eyed mechanic” who he helps fix his touring car. An act that he would probably never do in his past. Steinbeck shows Toms development into a more considerate person as the book
In the novel Tom was accused of raping Mayella Ewell daughter of Bob Ewell, Tom couldn't have committed this crime because of his injury on his left arm. Tom was later on found guilty and the incarcerated, during his time in prison he was shot down while trying to escape and killed. “ To Maycomb, Tom's death was typical. Typical for a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a niggers mentality to have no plan. Nigger always come= out of them, “(244) What this quote is saying is that when Tom died it didn't cause any kind of guilt because the people were basing his reason for trying to escape on pure stereotypes of black people. “I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody,”(112) Atticus was one of the few white man who thought that Tom was more than just trash because of his skin. This shows my theme because most of the people in Maycomb thought that Tom was just like any other black stereotype and didn't think his life was worth saving, not because the evidence pointed to him being guilty but because he was
Therefore Mr.Shelby is forced to sell Uncle Tom, who would bring the most money out of all his slaves, to Mr.Haley. Tom refuses to say anything against Mr.Shelby 's decision because he has raised him from childhood and treated him well throughout his life so he respects his master and does as commanded (Chapter X).In one instance St.Clare was drinking too much alcohol one night and St.Clare is loose with his money, meaning he leaves it out in the open. Uncle tom has had many opportunities to steal the money for his own use, but Tom is not tempted to take the money because St.Clare has been good to Tom and Tom respects his masters (Chapter XVIII). Even though Tom 's masters have treated him well there is still evil in slavery because they both are in ownership of his life and decide what happens to him. Tom again was sold to another master Mr.Legree, who didn 't like Tom from the start. He wanted Tom and the other newcomers to have no affiliation with the sense of freedom or of a better life. He wanted his way of life on the plantation to be the slaves’ church. At that moment Tom disliked his master but he still respected him, even though he beat Tom on multiple occasions and threw away