Uncle Tom's Cabin: Stowe's Paradoxical Christian Message
Perhaps the greatest criticism levied against Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is that it comprises of nothing more than Victorian sentimentality, and that the death of its two moral exemplars, Tom and Little Eva, do little which actually remedies the injustices of slavery. Critic Ann Douglas sees the novel as emblematic of the "feminization of American culture," which in religious terms figures as "a move away from the morally forceful Calvinism to the sloppiness of the humanistic cult of gentle Jesus" (Rachel Bowlby's paraphrase, 205). In order to recoup the novel from such charges, critics such as Jane Tompkins have attempted to demonstrate that the novel's coupling of sentimentality and Christianity results in far more than a luxuriating in lachrymose emotions. For Tompkins, the force behind the novel's sentimental Christianity is its subversion of the power hierarchy. Incidents like the deaths of Tom and Little Eva enact a "theory of power" in which "the powerless die to save the powerful and corrupt, and thereby show themselves more powerful than those they save" (128). Thus, the traditional locus of power, is in effect, decentered, and religious faith gives marginalized figures like slaves, children, and women a power, to which in strictly secular terms, they have no access.
One problem with readings which stress the salvific function of the deaths of Tom and Little Eva is their failure to account for the novel's self-conscious acknowledgment of the social forces which constantly challenge the brand of Christianity which it advocates. The Christian message of Uncle Tom's Cabin is ultimately paradoxical. On the one hand, the examples of Tom and Little Eva demonstrate ...
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...f sustaining one's Christianity within the context of slavery, as well as the limitations of the individual's power to challenge such a large institution. George, in deferring his acceptance of Christianity until he reaches a place of freedom, ultimately comes closest to Stowe's agenda of establishing a true Christian nation, uncorrupted by slavery, on earth.
Works Cited:
Bowlby, Rachel. "Breakfast in America--Uncle Tom's Cultural Histories." Nation and Narration. Ed. Homi K. Bhabha. New York, NY: Routledge Press, 1990, 197-212.
O'Connel, Catherine E. "`The Magic of the Real Presence of Distress': Sentimentality and Competing Rhetorics of Authority." The Stowe Debate. Eds. Mason I. Lowance, Jr., Ellen E Westbrook, R.C. De Prospo. Amherst, MA: U. Massachusetts Press, 1994, 13-36.
Tompkins, Jane. Sensational Designs. New York, NY: Oxford U. Press, 1985.
What is presented to the slaves as a religious tenet is merely propaganda used to quell rebellious behavior. They fear a society in which they no longer serve to benefit from slave labor, and so they fear rebellion, they fear objection, they fear events like the Nat Turner Insurrection. The system the slaveholders strive so ardently to protect begins to affect even them, those in power, negatively. They begin to cope with their fear the only way they know how, by projecting it upon the slaves.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Olaudah Equiano’s Narrative of his Life both endeavor to stir antislavery sentiment in predominantly white, proslavery readers. Each author uses a variety of literary tactics to persuade audiences that slavery is inhumane. Equiano uses vivid imagery and inserts personal experience to appeal to audiences, believing that a first-hand account of the varying traumas slaves encounter would affect change. Stowe relies on emotional connection between the readers and characters in her novel. By forcing her audience to have empathy for characters, thus forcing readers to confront the harsh realities of slavery, Stowe has the more effective approach to encouraging abolitionist sentiment in white readers.
Some critics have argued that Richard Wright’s women are “flat, one dimensional stereotypes, portrayed primarily in terms of their relationship to the male character”. (Quote, p540) However, in Uncle Tom’s Children, Wright resents three very distinct types of female characters who did not fit this description. Wright portrays women as an Avenger, a Sufferer and a Mother figure whose actions propel the stories to their final conclusion. In the story “Bright and Morning Star” Wright places the protagonist, Aunt Sue, in a domestic environment. “Her hands followed a lifelong ritual of toil” (pg222) as she cleans and cooks. Interestingly, Aunt Sue is the only heroine in the stories, who shows a different type of bravery than perhaps shown by the male figures in other stories. She is brave in the face of the loss of her two sons; she is brave as she does not show weakness to the white men who attempt to control her and make her do their bidding. She does not allow herself to be bound by the conventions of society. She speaks her mind to the white men who invade her home and states “Ah don’t care who Ahm talking t!” (pg238). Aunt Sue is portrayed as a cunning woman, who hides behind men’s perception of her as weak and uses it to her advantage. Her final act of bravery in the story is to giver herself up to death, before the white men can take her life from her. Wright also portrays women as sufferers in his work. Sarah, in “Long Black Song” suffers from isolation and is stuck in a loveless marriage. The gap between men and women is very much evident in this story. Sarah is very much dependent on Silas for company, security and items of comfort. Silas is allowed to exceed from the isolation imposed on his wife. Even when Sarah flees from ...
Since the beginning of the United States the American people have been on the move. Public transportation has played a major role in the development of this nation and in bringing its citizens together. In the book “Divided Highways”, author Tom Lewis takes the reader on a journey of the building of the Interstates and the consequences(good and bad) that came from them. Lewis believes that the Interstates are a physical characteristic of America and that it shows “all our glory and our meanness; all our vision and our shortsightedness”(xiv).
Jehlen, Myra. "The Family Militant: Domesticity Versus Politics in Uncle Tom's Cabin." Criticism 31 (Fall 1989): 383-400.
Smith, Karen R. “Resurrection, Uncle Tom's Cabin” and the Reader in Crisis, Penn State University Press, 1996, Accessed April 23, 2012,
In her essay, “Loopholes of Resistance,” Michelle Burnham argues that “Aunt Marthy’s garret does not offer a retreat from the oppressive conditions of slavery – as, one might argue, the communal life in Aunt Marthy’s house does – so much as it enacts a repetition of them…[Thus] Harriet Jacobs escapes reigning discourses in structures only in the very process of affirming them” (289). In order to support this, one must first agree that Aunt Marthy’s house provides a retreat from slavery. I do not. Burnham seems to view the life inside Aunt Marthy’s house as one outside of and apart from slavery where family structure can exist, the mind can find some rest, comfort can be given, and a sense of peace and humanity can be achieved. In contrast, Burnham views the garret as a physical embodiment of the horrors of slavery, a place where family can only dream about being together, the mind is subjected to psychological warfare, comfort is non-existent, and only the fear and apprehension of inhumanity can be found. It is true that Aunt Marthy’s house paints and entirely different, much less severe, picture of slavery than that of the garret, but still, it is a picture of slavery differing only in that it temporarily masks the harsh realities of slavery whereas the garret openly portrays them. The garret’s close proximity to the house is symbolic of the ever-lurking presence of slavery and its power to break down and destroy families and lives until there is nothing left. Throughout her novel, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs presents these and several other structures that suggest a possible retreat from slavery, may appear from the outside to provide such a retreat, but ideally never can. Among these structures are religion, literacy, family, self, and freedom.
... is invoking language of the Christ’s crucifixion on the cross by the Romans. Stowe makes an analogous statement to this in describing the daily plight of black slaves. Most whites view the system of slavery as natural; they see black as inferior to them and therefore designed to serve them based on the color of their skin. Blacks however see bondage through the forced biblical paradigm that has been imposed upon them. Stowe makes the analogy that African Americans suffer daily in bondage like Christ suffered on the cross.
Robbins, Sarah. "Gendering the History of the Antislavery Narrative: Juxtaposing Uncle Tom's Cabin and Benito Cereno, Beloved and Middle Passage" American Quarterly 49.3 (1997): 531-73. JSTOR. Web. 24 Nov. 2012.
Life is viewed differently by everyone. Some see the positive and optimistic life full of wonder, while others see the negative and pessimistic life of dead ends. The perceptions are based on the experiences that molds the good and the bad. We see what our past has been and what our future would most likely be. Our beliefs of life cannot be changed by another’s perspectives. In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Eliza and George are two slaves that live in different environments to influence how they react and think in different situations.
William Arthur Ward once said, "Real religion is a way of life, not a white cloak to be wrapped around us on the Sabbath and then cast aside into the six-day closet of unconcern." Religion is the one thing that people can usually tolerate but never agree upon. Each faith seems to have an ordained assumption that they have the correct thoughts on how to life one's life or how to think about things or the way to act in certain situations. Still, each religion has its own "sub-religions." If someone refers to Christianity, there are several different religions that are blanketed under that umbrella: Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Presbyterian are just a handful. The inconsistencies that are associated with everyone's belief about religion run into deeper ruts of confusion. This confusion leads people to have distorted views as to what they believe and what their religion is all about. This is no different from the feelings about slavery by Christians in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Throughout the novel, Christianity presents itself in a few different lights; as a twisted and deformed glimmer of what religion is supposed to be with undertones of bigotry and prejudice, an innocent yet naive child that brings joy to everyone he or she meets, and as Uncle Tom himself, the standard for what a Christian is supposed to be. These different portrayals of Christian living come from Stowe's own beliefs about Christians and brings them into the light.
There are many benefits of exercise on the human body, not only physical, but mental. Research has proved that exercise can benefit your mental health and your ability to learn. Exercise has many positive effects on patients suffering from a mental health disorder, such as depression or anxiety. Exercise releases chemicals in the brain called serotonin, which is a mood booster. The chemical can combat depression and help alleviate some of the symptoms that come with it. Exercise is shown to alleviate 25 different medical conditions, whether through secondary or direct benefits, such as Alzheimer’s. People who exercise are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than ones who don’t because exercise releases chemicals in the brain that support the healthy growth of neurons. Exercise can also serve as a mental “buffer” against problems such as stress, which prevents further problems like depression. This creates a mental resistance to outside forces, which aid in day to day life. Exercise can also help in education. Studies show that schools with academic programs that lack physical education perform worse than ones that have a more robust system. Majority of research indicates that replacing some academic periods with physical education results in higher academic achievement for students and improved concentration and focus. Exercise is shown to increase circulation and blood flow to the brain which increases cognitive function and the efficiency of the brain, having a profound impact on the human body and its ability to function efficiently. Exercise also engages the prefrontal cortex and stimulates it, which is responsible for complex thought and problem solving. This is proven to increase creativity, concentration and test scores. Stu...
While Robbins’s work was at first ill received, by the mid-1970s the public had started to warm up to this quirky and thought provoking writer. Even today, his work invites inquiry about what prompted him to write this controversial novel. That is, who and what influenced this line of thought? What was happening in America and with Christianity during the period, in which he wrote and researched this piece of fiction? And, finally, why did he write in this sporadic, nonlinear fashion, inserting seemingly non-related details and encrypting an official report within the structure of a novel? And how does this relate to the influences mentioned above? All of these questions and more offer themselves up from the pages of this funny and whimsical, yet philosophical and wise novel, Another Roadside Attraction.
Boarnet, Marlon G. "National Transportation Planning: Lessons from the U.S. Interstate Highways." National Transportation Planning: Lessons from the U.S. Interstate Highways. Elsevier Ltd., 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
It is no secret that staying physically active is a great way to maintain a balanced lifestyle, stay healthy, and stay happy. But why is this so? According to Harvard University’s Health Blog, exercise directly changes brain structure, enlarging both the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal cortex, improving memory, learning, as well as critical thinking skills (Godman). These effects, combined with the release of endorphins, improve your mood by jump-starting several biological processes, thus reducing stress and relieving anxiety. There are numerous positive benefits of aerobic exercise on the brain, from a chemical standpoint, a biological standpoint as well as from a psychological one.