Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is set between 1840 and 1850, is a novel that brought the cruelties of slavery into American homes. It unveils how slaves, like Uncle Tom and Eliza, were treated by slave owners, like Simon Legree. Throughout the novel there's a strong contrast between good and evil, which is personified by the different slave owners. First, Tom and Eliza serve a Christian family. Tom embraces Christianity through his compassion for others, honesty, evangelism, humbleness and his obedience without compromising his beliefs. Eliza, a beautiful Christian mulatto, shows her courage and love for her son. This love becomes strongest when she escapes with him to Canada after he's sold to pay debts. In the meantime, Tom is sold to Simon Legree. Simon displays evilness in his strength, greed and brutality. After Tom's friend escapes the plantation, Tom is blamed. The plot thickens when in Eliza's journey to Canada, she literally skates over thin ice as her son's master is close behind.

Hauntlngly beautiful.I avoided reading this book for many years because I was afraid it would be too painful. Now that I have read it though, I regret that I waited so long.Uncle Tom's Cabin follows the story of Tom, a slave who has lived most of his life on a plantation with a kind master. He is much loved by the other slaves who call him "Uncle Tom". As the story begins we find that Tom his being sold so his master can cover some debts. Many other deeply rich characters are woven into the narrative, but the main character throughout is Tom.This book is known, rightly, for it's anti-slavery message, but it is much more than that. It is a story about the strength of the human spirit to survive the unthinkable and it's a story about faith in Christ. I am a Christian, and still I am in awe that the slaves could find and hold onto faith while living in slavery. Because of my own life experiences, I felt I could relate much better to Cassie (a female slave introduced late in the book, who is understandably angry and hardened by life.) Tom's faith and testimony moved me. Once in a while you find a book that leaves you a different person, a better person for having read it . . . Uncle Tom's Cabin did that for me.

A very well written book. Easy to read and very interesting. It got a little preachy sometimes, and it was apparent that the author was trying to get her philosophy across through her characters. It would have been very interesting to have read this at the time it was written. By showing the lives of slaves at the time, both those who had good owners, and those who had cruel and inhuman owners, Stowe gave the public a firsthand view of what the institution of slavery brought on our country and its people.

Now I know why it's a classic! This may be the best-written piece of persuasive writing I've ever read. The stories are so artfully told and the characters so endearing. It's not hard to see why the book could engender the passions it did. I never expected to like it, much less to be made an abolitionist in the reading.

Harriet Beecher Stowe's book is one that I would classify as important rather than great. It's a powerful condemnation of slavery using the language of Stowe's Christian faith, and her moral outrage at it seeps through nearly every page. This I expected; what I didn't expect was how she developed her characters. While her African American characters are uniformly dignified and good, most of the slaveholders received surprisingly nuanced treatments, with some good (if hypocritical) characters among them and only the infamous Simon Legree really embodying in full the evil and corruption resulting from slavery. Yet for all the positive nature of her depiction of her slave characters Stowe cannot help but reflect the racial attitudes of her time, with descriptions that have not aged well. In this she demonstrates the limits of even antislavery activists in their attitudes towards African Americans, yet this is all of a piece in a work that arguably serves as the most historically significant novel in American history, one that helped galvanize opposition to the institution that was corroding the nation's soul.

While I understand the book’s historical importance and appreciate its message, I had a really hard time getting through this for a couple of reasons. First, the religious rhetoric was very difficult for me. The long passages of religious posturing seemed to go on and on without end. Second, the characters are extremely one dimensional and idealized. Even the quite evil Legree is said to somehow see the wrong he is doing and still choose the path of evil. Third, there are entirely too many happy or sad coincidences. Characters randomly happen upon one another by chance. It took me out of the story at times. I am glad I re-read it (it has been years), and I value the importance of the work. However, I don’t think I will be reading again.Note: Read through DailyLit

Excellent book read for Great Books over a four week period. Why did I wait so long to read this? So much of it still applies to today.

The first time I read this book, I was quite young. I think I was in primary school and it was the children's version.To be quite honest, I can hardly remember anything, except that I was overwhelmed by the story.Upon hearing my best friend had never read this classic I advised her to read it, which she did. We got the old fashioned version from the library, and of course that means 'old' English.My friend, rightfully, noted that it's very very Christian. To the point of (or even past that point) of exaggeration! Personally it doesn't bother me, but that could be the difference in our upbringing. What's more, the writer obviously comes from a very religious family, so it is to be expected.Even if you strip this book of its Christianity, it's still a very powerful story!It shows various sides of slavery as the writer has seen it and heard about it (the last chapter is an eye opener as far as that goes!). Obviously it's not really of this time anymore (are we really free of slavery though?), but it is educational. At least it's a wonderful story of people and their struggles, both slave and master. Wonderfully written, hard to put down. Quite rightfully regarded as a classic!

Such a beautiful story. I adored the realism of the characters. Stowe did a wonderful job balancing out personalities. No race was glorified or demonized, nor were genders shown in disproportionate light; the first few chapters, all the women were nigh-on saints, but Mrs. St. Clare more than makes up for it (I wanted to strangle that b!tch. Even if it weren't for her views on slavery). I was a bit dismayed at the deus ex machina nature of the happily ever after (the reunions at the end), but I thoroughly enjoyed the "epilogues" and the end note.

I enjoyed reading Uncle Tom's Cabin in many ways, and I found the character of Uncle Tom to be one of the most heroic characters of whom I have read. It should also be pointed out that this was one of the most important novels written in American history because of the influence that it had on opening northern eyes to the horrors of slavery.However, the book does present some difficulties to the modern reader. For one, Stowe frequently refers to the races in stereotypical terms. To Stowe, people of African decent are all magnanimous, warm-hearted beings, which robs them of the humanity and ability to be unique individuals. I should probably give Stowe a pass for this, but it was difficult to get past as a modern reader. With that being said, the book was very well-written for a nineteenth century house-wife who was not a writer by trade. Considering her background, I was very impressed with her ability as a writer and am even more impressed with the guts it must have taken for a woman to speak out about injustice in a society that would not allow her the right to vote and have a say in how society was run. For this reason, Stowe's work is something that should still be read and admired by modern readers.

My 2nd read of this book; the first read was about two decades ago. This time around, the book walloped me so much that for days I could think of nothing else. It is reported that Abe Lincoln remarked to the Harriet that her book was responsible for starting the Civil War. I would have loved to be present at that conversation and observed Beecher's response. What did she say and do after that comment?

A very interesting and informative description of dark times that most of us might prefer to go through life not 'knowing' but must learn about in detail not in a glossed over history book.

Not always a easy read during some of the character's dialog. I enjoyed it more for it's historical value, I can see how it made a powerful statement during it's time.

Classic abolitionist melodrama - I think the last time I read it was after seeing a very funny take off by the San Francisco Mime Company called "I Ain't Yo Uncle". A product of its time, but probably worth a read from the perspective of literary (and U.S.) history.

There are reasons I really wanted to like this book:

*It is (or was) a classic
*Its author is famously known as the person Abraham Lincoln jokingly credited with starting the American Civil War and, ergo, an end to slavery in the United States.
*The principles and courage of the author to put herself out there and critique a nation, not just for its legislation, but the more insidious racism of many abolitionists, must have been tremendous.

However, I found the act of ploughing through this novel to be one long exercise in patience. As someone who does not adhere to any religion, the endless passages about The Lord, quotes from the Bible, and descriptions of religious activity were increasingly tedious and I found myself skipping swathes of text just to get on with the story.

Ah, the story... therein lies another problem. Having done a little more research since completing this book, I understand that Beecher Stowe originally wrote this as a series, published weekly in a paper. Therefore, the introduction to each chapter, which reminds 'our reader' who we are catching up with next and apologises to 'our reader' for not having had time to describe Mrs Such-and-Such last night with 'all the activity going on' became equally as wearing as the Bible-bashing after a few chapters. The other consequence of this approach means that Beecher Stowe introduced a plethora of new characters with each section. I ended up losing interest in 'meeting' yet another person because I couldn't get into any of the characters enough to care about them. The titular Uncle Tom is absent for more of the book than he is present and this makes it especially difficult to root for him by the time his story reaches its climax.

The final chapters are ludicrous in their reliance on coincidence - at least Oscar Wilde made sure his tongue was firmly in his cheek during the reveal. The only aspect of the book I found interesting was the final word by the author, highlighting the plight of the slave to her Southern cousins and Northern friends. I would have been happy to read that part on its own and still come away with the same level of understanding about attitudes and issues at that time. Others have described the entire novel as reading more like an essay and I agree. Had Beecher Stowe not used such a clunky, preaching approach I am sure this would have continued to shine as an illuminating example of literature's powerful role in society. As it is, the author lacked the talent of her contemporary peers to create a wonderful narrative and the result, a century and a half later, is painfully dull.

I loved this! Beautiful and heartbreaking though some of my emotional bonds were stronger with side characters. It's fascinating to see how our perspectives of Uncle Tom have evolved throughout history.

Propaganda as art: That is how Harriet Beecher Stowe has presented the story of slavery in the mid-19th century. There are times when Stowe beats you over the head with the message that slavery is an evil that should not survive in a "Christian world." There is a heavy dose of religion presented here, and Tom's faith is a powerful tool in his struggle and ultimately a transcendent virtue at the novel's climax.

Some of Stowe's viewpoints are outdated, with a kind of "noble savage" perspective of blacks, whom she portrays as pitiful creatures at times. The final chapters are a bit overwrought, with a drawn out tying up of loose ends and a call for African nationalism, but not in America, which seems racist in today's society: "Set free the slaves and send them back to Africa rather than allow them to be equals in America." The final chapter is Stowe's final thesis against slavery, as she argues the authenticity of her characters and their lives.

Despite its dated language and ideals, it remains a powerful argument against America's worst transgression. The plot moves along quickly, as you can tell it was first published episodically. There is a lot of action, and the plot only stalls for a few chapters here and there. Some of the scenes will make you cringe, and that's the point.

Stowe leaves no one out of this book. Every character archetype is here: from meek and subservient slaves to the revolutionary firebrands, from the well-meaning slave owner to the brutal plantation master. Stowe addresses every man, woman and child in her treatise to end slavery. While today's reader must look beyond some of the content here, this novel remains one of the most important novels in U.S. history.

Uncle Toms Cabin Character: Tom, The Shelbys, Eliza, Harry, Simon Legree, Topay, Ophelia, St. Clare, Tom LokerSetting: Planation in Kentucky Theme: Prejudices of the South and enduring faithGenre: Historical FictionSummary: The story begins on a planation in Kentucky where the family is having financial issues and have no other choice but to sell some of their slaves. Once Eliza finds out her son is one of the slaves they escape. She is soon met by her husband who had escaped some time before. The family is being hunted by a slave hurter who her husband pushed off a cliff only to leave him at a Quakers home nearby. The family makes it to Canada where they become freedmen. Other slaves on the planation are not so lucky. Tom is to be sold. He is sent on a riverboat to Mississippi. On his way he meets a young girl named Eva. Eva’s father Tom decides purchase Tom and take him to his planation in New Orleans. Eva grows sick and dies but before she does has a vision of heaven. Inspired by her death her father decides he is going to sent Tom free but is killed before he had the chance. Eva’s mother sells Tom to Simon Legree who beats him and tries to break his spirit because he refused to whip another slave. Tom is beaten by another slave and dies. Shortly after Tom’s death, George Shelby arrives to buy Tom’s freedom but he is too late. Cassy escapes and arrives in Canada where she discovers Eliza is her lost daughter who was sold as a child. Audience: Middle/High SchoolCurriculum ties: Slavery, Civil WarPersonal response: I believe this is a must read when studying slavery. It gives a clear picture of the life of a slave and the harsh treatment they endured. It also shows that not all slave owners are cruel. I believe this book could be used at all grade levels if excerpts are used and vocabulary is explained.

I spent two months reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, not for the complexity of prose but for the subject matter. At times, reading no more than two pages, putting it down, digesting the words (or trying to forget the words) for days before picking it up again. I don’t know how many tissues I went through reading this book. My reading speed picked up when the precocious little Eva entered the pages. Oh, how I fell in love with Eva St. Clare. She was the joy and sunshine in a dark, oppressive tale who reminded the reader how innocence, love, and kindness can radiate to all. I needed her to carry me through this difficult story. (In 1852, 300 babies in Boston alone were named Eva.)“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” traced the story of the pious Uncle Tom and a related/parallel story of escaping slaves, George, Eliza, and Harry Harris. Tragedy strikes throughout UTC, with deaths on both the blacks and the whites. The book was based on the life of Josiah Henson, an escaped slave who fled to Canada with his wife and children in the 1830s. The tragic tales (the suicides, the torture of slaves) and the amazing feat of jumping an icy river were leveraged from real life tales. Published in 1852, Stowe was inspired to write UTC partly due to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law prohibiting assistance to fugitives. Stowe and her husband were both abolitionist and had supported the Underground Tunnel. A goal of the book was to educate northerners of the realistic horrors of the slave trade happening in the South and also to increase (or initiate) empathy towards slaves for the southerners. This book became a best seller, leading up to the apocryphal that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the Civil War, Lincoln declared, "So this is the little lady who started this great war." However, this text was never in print until 1896. It would have been a good story if true.Needless to say, the book was condemned in the South during the same era and even in recent history. Interestingly, as African-Americans became educated and were reading the book for the first time, they too criticized the book for its stereotyping of blacks – obsequious and toadying. While I can understand this perspective, the book had served its purpose in 1852. 4 stars for the book itself (a bit wordy). 0.5 stars for the highly affective emotional tugs without feeling overwrought. 0.5 stars for the significant historical footprint it left. Favorite character: Hands down, Eva St. Clare Least favorite character: It could have been Haley, the slave trader, or Legree, the cruel plantation owner, but it was Marie Benoir/St. Clare – the most obnoxious, self-centered, tyrannical being who tormented Mammy and refused Tom’s freedom just for the money, even though she doesn’t need it. I wanted to strangle her. Things I learned: 1. The tragic baby/slave making that women were forced to do. 2. The vulnerability of slaves upon the master’s death. Some Quotes:On beauty and old age:"Her hair, partially silvered by age, was parted smoothly back from a high placid forehead, on which time had written no inscription, except peace on earth, good will to men, and beneath shone a large pair of clear, honest, loving brown eyes; you only needed to look straight into them, to feel that you saw to the bottom of a heart as good and true as ever throbbed in woman's bosom. So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why don't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?"On God:"’Is there a God to trust in?’ said George, in such a tone of bitter despair as arrested the old gentleman's words. ‘O, I've seen things all my life that made me feel that there can't be a God. You Christians don't know how these look to us. There's a God for you, but is there any for us?’"On racism, from St. Clare:You = Northerners. “You loathe them as you would a snake or a toad, yet you are indignant at their wrongs. You would not have them abused; but you don’t want to have anything to do with them yourselves. You would send them to Africa, out of your sight and smell, and then send a missionary or two to do up all the self-denial of elevating them compendiously.” On religion, from St. Clare:"Religion! Is what you hear at church religion? Is that which can bend and turn, and descend and ascend, to fit every crooked phase of selfish, worldly society, religion? Is that religion which is less scrupulous, less generous, less just, less considerate for man, than even my own ungodly, worldly, blinded nature? No! When I look for a religion, I must look for something above me, and not something beneath."On slavery, from St. Clare:“It’s all nonsense to talk to me about slaves enjoying all this! … Tell me that any man living wants to work all his days, from day-dawn till dark, under the constant eye of a master, without the power of putting forth one irresponsible volition, on the same dreary, monotonous, unchanging toil, and all for two pairs of pantaloons and a pair of shoes a year, with enough food shelter to keep him in working order!”

It is reported that when President Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, he said, “So you’re the little lady who caused this big war.” Uncle Tom’s Cabin may not have caused the war, but it certainly stirred anti-slavery sentiments internationally. I first read it more than 30 years ago and remembered it only as a great story, a real page turner. Recently, while researching the concept of evil, there were two things that repeatedly appeared in my reading: the Holocaust and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. A re-reading was in order.Even though she furnished adequate proof that her characters were drawn from real life [see The Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1854)], Stowe’s emotional presentation, typical of novels of the period, was distracting to me until, again, I was drawn into the story: a kind slaveowner finds himself in financial straits and must sell property to keep from losing everything. Rather than part with acreage, he sells his most valuable slave, Uncle Tom, along with Harry, the young son of his wife’s chamber maid Eliza. Thus, Tom is separated from his wife and children, and Eliza runs away in the night with little Harry. A key character is St. Clare, Uncle Tom’s new master, who assuages his guilt at being a slaveowner by indulging his human property and foregoing the whippings that are common among his peers. Indeed, he metes out no discipline at all. St. Clare’s petulant wife is capricious in her treatment of her servants. Their child Eva is a younger, Western version of Siddhartha. When her father attempts to shield her from the truth, she protests: “You want me to live so happy, and never to have pain,—never suffer anything,—not even hear a sad story when other poor creatures have nothing but pain and sorrow, all their lives,—it seems selfish.”Stowe uses her characters to deliver her orations on the causes and evils of slavery and how good people behave badly when society seems to demand it of them; or as St. Clare says, “It’s pretty generally understood that men don’t aspire after the absolute right, but only to do about as well as the rest of the world.” St. Clare, too, reflects Stowe’s thoughts on the profit motive behind slavery:"On this abstract question of slavery there can, as I think, be but one opinion. Planters, who have money to make by it,—clergymen, who have planters to please,—politicians, who want to rule by it,—may warp and bend language and ethics to a degree that shall astonish the world at their ingenuity; they can press nature and the Bible, and nobody knows what else, into the service." (p. 189)Mr. Shelby’s speeches present the case of the genteel, kind slaveowner; Mrs. Shelby’s speeches provide the practicing Christian viewpoint; and Uncle Tom and George Harris speak of the experience of being treated as a piece of property rather than a man. Other characters reflect the sentiments of the many voices that weigh in on the complex nature of slavery as an economic necessity.Thus the story I read years ago as an exciting bit of fiction, I now review as a powerful political statement. Knowing now, that even the individual characters, as well as the events, were literally taken from real life, the story has deeper meaning. I was struck by how often some speech or wisp of philosophy seemed hauntingly relevant to today’s society, where the closing of factories and downsizing of businesses do not send workers to the block to be sold, but rather leave them in a limbo, like freed slaves without the tools to make it in this new emerging society.

While I understand the book’s historical importance and appreciate its message, I had a really hard time getting through this for a couple of reasons. First, the religious rhetoric was very difficult for me. The long passages of religious posturing seemed to go on and on without end. Second, the characters are extremely one dimensional and idealized. Even the quite evil Legree is said to somehow see the wrong he is doing and still choose the path of evil. Third, there are entirely too many happy or sad coincidences. Characters randomly happen upon one another by chance. It took me out of the story at times. I am glad I re-read it (it has been years), and I value the importance of the work. However, I don’t think I will be reading again.Note: Read through DailyLit

At some points you will cry at other you will want to bash heads. It is a great read and I believe should be taught in high schools

3.5 stars.Uncle Tom's Cabin was written in 1852. Tom and Eliza are slaves owned by Mr. Shelby, who is a kind master and treats his slaves well. However, when he has money problems, he must sell a couple of them to a slave trader - Tom, and Eliza's young son Harry, are sold. The book follows Tom one direction after he is sold, and Eliza and Harry in another direction as they run to escape Harry's unknown fate once the trader sells him; they are trying to reach Canada. I was surprised that this was much easier to read than I expected. I don't normally like books written in the 19th century (at least the few that I've attempted to read), so I wasn't sure how this would go. I actually quite liked the book.

A really stunning book... its engaging, heartrending, truthful... the characters come alive. I really was impressed how it shows the beauty of some of the characters, when they're in a situation that is so objectively ugly.

Although the character Uncle Tom has been criticized for being too meek and utterly subservient, and too gentle and religious when maybe a real person would have been bitter and rebellious instead, that's hardly the point of this book.Stowe, the daughter of a preacher, opposed slavery on the grounds of her faith. That is evident throughout the book, and regardless of the reader's religious persuasion, the truth about slavery and its inherent injustice is brought to light and boldly condemned.In this book, she represented an entire range of slaves and slave-owners, from the persistent superlative meekness and gentleness of Uncle Tom to the desperate rebellion of others, and from the kindness of one slave-owner to the insane cruelty of Simon Legree. She draws special attention to the tragedy of mothers and children being separated and the inability of slaves to protect themselves or their families, and even the futility of a kind master's good intentions.

This is the first time I've read Uncle Tom's Cabin. Like almost everyone, I had heard of it, and was familiar with the characters of Uncle Tom, Topsy, and Simon Legree.By today's standards, the book would likely be judged too sentimental. The author includes 10-page chapter called "concluding remarks" in which she expresses her own views against slavery, and how it is incompatible with Christianity. This just isn't done in modern novels.In assessing the book against other literature of the period, though, a different perspective emerges: one of a sweeping tale, encompassing many characters with a strong story of good and evil. Like Dickens' works, it is a scathing assessment of the society in which it is written. In this way, and in the complex blending of good and evil within individual characters, it is a more satisfying than The Book of Negroes.I am also reading a biography of William Wilberforce, and found Ms. Beecher Stowe's work an enriching complement.

The 1952 Dodd, Mead Great Illustrated Classics edition is wonderful. Illustrations include those of Cruikshank, Dunbar, and others; Langston Hughes wrote the captions and an Introduction.Apparently, Dickens and Trollope praised this book, and the first run, of 5,000 copies, sold out in two days in 1852 in Boston. I believe it.

This book lies so heavy on my heart. There is one thing in our country's history that bothers me the most and that is slavery. This book was very hard for me to listen to. I can't wrap my mind around someone treating another person like dogs because of the color of their skin. There were many times that I wanted to smack several people for the things they said. I would like to believe if I had lived during times of slavery I would be one of the people who helped free slaves and stand up for their rights. I don't have time for hatred and it saddens me when people are abused.

A great book on slavery, an educational book (read it when I was 12...)

Inflammatory to the extreme, but still an interesting, if heartbreaking story. Harriet Stowe wanted this used as a tool to end slavery. Whether it was effective or not is beyond my judgment, but I do know that it incited many to get involved in the antislavery movement. In many ways it is insufferably condescending, and naive, yet it should be read as one end of the extreme view.