Analysis Of Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin

Is not always that a work of literature causes a great change in society or leads it into a road toward internal conflict or turmoil. An example of such work is the 1852 book by Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Many consider it if not the most, one of the most influential pieces of American literature ever published. Its enormous popularity was manifested in the rapidness in which it was sold, and in the eagerness shown by the American population in reading it. It is believed that the storyline in Uncle Tom’s Cabin was fundamental in arousing the feelings of antislavery much more than any other event in the antebellum period. One of the most amazing factors about this accomplishment refers to the identity of its author. This …show more content…

But, who was Harriet Beecher Stowe and what prompted her to write about what it was a very delicate subject at the time? Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, Stowe was related by blood and marriage to a line of liberal theologians and clergymen. She received an extremely devout education and upbringing, placing emphasis on the Christian doctrines of salvation, atonement, sin, and guilt, all of which had an indisputable impact in her work. Her beliefs and ethics are shown in the personality of each of her characters. Uncle Tom, who in modern times has been vilified by many, including members of the Black community, in a very ignorant and unjust way, is portrayed by Stowe in a Christ like image. He forgives those who offend him, blesses those who curse him, turns the other cheek, and offers prayers for his oppressors and those who sin against him. The culmination of his unselfishness is established when he gives his life in order …show more content…

The barbaric treatment of the slaves by its owners, and the stories about their perils and escape from plantations, was well documented by the media of the time. But Stowe was successful where other abolitionist writers had failed, because her writings created a deep emotional link, and raise the slave to the status of a human being. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe portrays the slave as someone who was able to have to have thoughts and feelings, not just as a commodity that needed to be replaced by another. Stowe gives life to the views held by Americans about the humanity of the slaves, and places emphasis on how slavery was a tool used to separate families and abuse other human beings. She achieves so by providing chilling details about the extent of bravery and sacrifice the slaves were willing to achieve in order to maintain their dignity. She shows the maternal love of a woman toward her children when writing about Eliza and her escape from the south by crossing the icy Ohio River, all done to guarantee the freedom and safety of her child. Stowe goes further by shocking her audience with the story of Cassy, and how she commits infanticide rather than force her newborn to the calamities and indignities of slavery. Another mother, Lucy, kills herself when her small child is sold and taken