Uncle Tom s Cabin, By Harriet Beecher Stowe - 1381 Words

One hundred years after Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, the poet Langston Hughes called the novel, â€Å"the most cussed and discussed book of its time.† Hughes’s observation is particularly apt in that it avoids any mention of the novel’s literary merit. George Orwell famously called it â€Å"the best bad book of the age.† Uncle Tom’s Cabin is arguably no Pride and Prejudice or Scarlet Letter. Leo Tolstoy is one of the few critics who praise it unabashedly, calling Uncle Tom’s Cabin a model of the â€Å"highest type† of art because it flowed from love of God and man. So why has it been called â€Å"a verbal earthquake, an ink-and-paper tidal wave†? How and why has it been so influential? Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life among the Lowly is at heart a typical nineteenth-century melodrama of cruelty, suffering, religious devotion, broken homes, and improbable reunions. The plot in brief: the slave Uncle Tom is sold away from his cabin and family on the Shelby plantation in Kentucky; he serves the St. Clare family in Louisiana, from which he is sold after the death of Eva and her father; he lands at the Legree plantation on the Red River where he is whipped to death rather than betray two runaway slaves. Meanwhile some slaves escape (Eliza on ice floes across the Ohio River) and find long-lost relatives; others kill themselves and their children. The white characters discuss politics and religion. Everybody weeps. Uncle Tom’s Cabin has been cussed and discussed since May 8,Show MoreRelatedUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe901 Words   |  4 PagesHarriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a story that described the real life plight of an American Slave. Kentucky farmer George Shelby amassed enormous debts and faces the possibility of losing everything he owns. To settle his debts he makes the decision to sell two of his slaves, Uncle Tom and Eliza’s son Harry. Eliza is a young, beautiful quadroon girl who George Shelby’s wife took on as a daughter. Eliza overhears a conversation between George Shelby and his wife concerning the impendingRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe Essay1351 Words   |  6 PagesIn Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe uses the character of Augustine St. Clare to play a very important role in expressing her views of abolition to the reader throughout the novel. St. Clare is, in himself, a huge co ntradiction of a character, as his way of life is supported by the same system that he despises, slavery. St. Clare professes multiple times in the book that slavery is wrong, yet he holds slaves and refuses to release them, making him a hypocrite whose morals are right, mainlyRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe1295 Words   |  6 PagesUncle Tom’s Cabin, one of the best classic novels by Harriet Beecher Stowe takes place in Kentucky on Mr. Shelby’s land. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the author communicates to the reader the horrific actions and aftermaths of slavery. She does this by telling the story of slaves who were sold to unpleasant masters, showing slavery rips apart families and loved ones, and by showing how children - both free and slave - are affected by slavery. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin a main point to take away from the bookRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe1008 Words   |  5 PagesIn the 1800’s,a horrible sin of slavery took America by storm. Africans were brought to the United States as slaves. They were sold like animals, separated from their families, and forced to work for wealthy white men. They underwent torture, famine, and verbal abuse, the sole reason for their mistreatment being their skin color. Movements were made, protests held, but what no one was expecting was a short white lady by the name of Harriet Beecher Stowe to make the change that no one had yet achievedRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe1522 Words   |  7 PagesLincoln is quoted as saying, â€Å"So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.† upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe for the first time. The book that the former president is referring to is Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a 1850s book about the moral wrongs of slavery. It has been said to be the most influential anti-slavery book that has ever been written. Harriet Beecher Stowe is an effective author. She uses numerous literary devices such as facile characters, character foils, and symbolismRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe1357 Words   |  6 PagesUncle Tom’s cabin Uncle Tom s Cabin from the author Harriet Beecher Stowe, was first published in 1852 was a book that tackled the repulsive acts of slavery. In this paper I will discuss my overview and opinion on this book. It is clear if you have a general idea of this book you would know how to this novel ultimately inspired the civil war. As said by our 16th Abraham Lincoln when he met the author â€Å"so you’re the women who brought this Great War† Uncle Tom’s cabin has had a great influence onRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe975 Words   |  4 PagesThere are numerous likenesses and contrasts between the lives of the slaves from Uncle Tom s Cabin, composed by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and that of the wage slaves from Sinclair s The Jungle. Featured mutually in each books, was slavery. Along with that, both novels allocate the authors’ perspectives on the issue. In Sinclair’s book, he wrote about the lives of the wage slaves, how capitalism aff ected the wage slaves. Meanwhile, Stowe’s consisted more on a religious aspect, going in depth of howRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe1019 Words   |  5 PagesUncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is â€Å"one of the most famous books in the world† she is considered to be the woman that started the civil war. This book presents Anti-slavery ideas using Religion, Maternity and the idea of Gender Roles to promote the idea of Anti-Slavery. Throughout Uncle Tom’s Cabin there are â€Å"slave problems†,how slavery destroys and crumble families by splitting apart mother and child along with husband and wive.Stowe argues that these slavery brings out the femininityRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe1760 Words   |  8 PagesHarriet Beecher Stowe was born in June 14, 1811 in Lichfield, CT and was the sixth of her family’s eleven children. Beecher’s parents taught their children that their primary life goal was to make their mark. All seven sons became ministers, Isabella (the youngest) founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association, and Harriet revealed the horrifying truths and dissolved the social injustice of slavery. During her 85 years Beecher published thirty novels, but her bestselling book Uncle Tom’s CabinRead MoreUncle Tom s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe Essay1090 Words   |  5 PagesUncle Tom’s Cabin was the most popular story in the mid to late 19th century. There are nearly thousands of copies of that novel sold. The author Harriet Beecher Stowe was an amazing author and abolitionist. The purpose of her writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin is to influence other people to abolish slavery. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was based on Religion and the abolition of slavery. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was epic story in the mid 1800’s because it represents the cruelty of slavery and religious beliefs. Stowe kind