Huck Finn vs Uncle Tom's Cabin
Professor Nancy Reincke
English 060
17 October 2012
My High School Reading List: Huck Finn or Uncle Tom?
If I were a high school English teacher and I could only choose either Uncle Tom’s Cabin or The Adventures by Huckleberry Finn to teach in my American Literature class, I would go with the latter. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe is a classic novel published in 1852. It is said to be, by some people, the book that triggered the Civil War. By discussing the issues of slavery of her time and the cruel aspects of it Stowe tried to give people a wake-up call on their diminishing abilities to feel any kind of sympathy for slaves. The novel was meant to motivate people to open their eyes and see how cruel and wrong it was to treat others like objects rather than human beings. Not only did slavery allow mistreatment and violence, but it also inevitably served as a reason for thousands of families to break up. So Stowe argues that not only whites, but blacks suffer just as much as everyone else; that they are able to feel love and pain as well, so mistreating them was just wrong. And it did serve its purpose, although there were just as many negative reactions. Throughout the whole book, Stowe tries to approach the idea of slavery from an unwavering Christian point of view. She portrays this with the help of Uncle Tom and Evangeline St. Clare. Tom, a middle-aged black man, is a very intelligent and religious man. He is introduced to us at the beginning of the novel as a well-respected slave at Arthur Shelby’s plantation. His master trusted him so much that he would even let the slave handle his finances. But despite their close bond, when pressed for money, Shelby does not hesitate to sell Tom off to a slave trader. No matter what happens, no matter how unfortunate or cruel, Uncle Tom never disobeys authority. But most importantly, his belief in God doesn’t waver, not even a single time. Even when he was betrayed by his master and sold off to a slave
English 060
17 October 2012
My High School Reading List: Huck Finn or Uncle Tom?
If I were a high school English teacher and I could only choose either Uncle Tom’s Cabin or The Adventures by Huckleberry Finn to teach in my American Literature class, I would go with the latter. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe is a classic novel published in 1852. It is said to be, by some people, the book that triggered the Civil War. By discussing the issues of slavery of her time and the cruel aspects of it Stowe tried to give people a wake-up call on their diminishing abilities to feel any kind of sympathy for slaves. The novel was meant to motivate people to open their eyes and see how cruel and wrong it was to treat others like objects rather than human beings. Not only did slavery allow mistreatment and violence, but it also inevitably served as a reason for thousands of families to break up. So Stowe argues that not only whites, but blacks suffer just as much as everyone else; that they are able to feel love and pain as well, so mistreating them was just wrong. And it did serve its purpose, although there were just as many negative reactions. Throughout the whole book, Stowe tries to approach the idea of slavery from an unwavering Christian point of view. She portrays this with the help of Uncle Tom and Evangeline St. Clare. Tom, a middle-aged black man, is a very intelligent and religious man. He is introduced to us at the beginning of the novel as a well-respected slave at Arthur Shelby’s plantation. His master trusted him so much that he would even let the slave handle his finances. But despite their close bond, when pressed for money, Shelby does not hesitate to sell Tom off to a slave trader. No matter what happens, no matter how unfortunate or cruel, Uncle Tom never disobeys authority. But most importantly, his belief in God doesn’t waver, not even a single time. Even when he was betrayed by his master and sold off to a slave
References: T.S. Eliot, "Introduction to Huckleberry Finn," in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Norton Critical Edition, third edition, Thomas Cooley, ed. (W.W. Norton, 1998). Jane Smiley, "Say It Ain 't So Huck," in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Norton Critical Edition, third edition, Thomas Cooley, ed. (W.W. Norton, 1998).