Uncle Tom's Cabin Analysis Essay
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Analysis Essay The novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin begins with a deal between Mr. Haley and Arthur Shelby. Mr. Haley is a slave buyer and Mr. Shelby is a slave holder who happens to be in quite a bit of trouble. Unfortunately for Mr. Shelby he has gone into debt and he must sell some of his slaves in order to prevent from selling his land. Mr. Haley has agreed to buy some of his slaves but he has a preference. He wants to buy Uncle Tom, one of Mr. Shelby’s beloved slaves, and he wants him to include a boy or a girl with the exchange. Even though Mr. Shelby didn’t approve of this request, he agreed reluctantly. They decided on Eliza’s son Harry; Eliza is Mr. Shelby’s wife’s maid. Before Mr. Shelby could discuss the issue with
…show more content…
his wife, Eliza asks Mrs. Shelby if her husband is planning on selling her son to Mr. Haley. Mrs. Shelby not knowing of the deal assures Eliza that Mr. Shelby wouldn’t dare to do that. Eventually, Mr. Shelby makes the deal and tells his wife about it. She is dismayed about his decision and reminds him that he promised Uncle Tom that he would set free and she tells him that she promised Eliza that Harry would not be sold. Unfortunately for Eliza and Uncle Tom, Mr. Shelby already signed the contract. Eliza, catching wind of the situation, she goes over to Uncle Tom’s cabin and she tells everyone about the deal. Uncle Tom said that he will not escape but he believes that Eliza should and that same night she does. As the novel goes on, we learn a lot about what happens with the characters. Eliza is now being pursued by slave hunters hired by her new master, Mr. Haley. Uncle Tom finds his way on a ship traveling down the Mississippi River, having the permission to roam about the boat freely, Uncle Tom meets a young girl Eva St.
Clare and they quickly become friends. One day, Eva fell off the side of the boat and Uncle Tom dove in after her. Eva’s father was very grateful to Uncle Tom that he accepted Eva’s request and bought Uncle Tom from Haley. Uncle Tom spent a great amount of time with the St. Clare family as their chauffer. But the one person who he grew the closest to was Eva. They spent a great amount of time together. Eva has always appreciated the slaves she had in her home, to her there was no black and white; she saw everyone as equals. After a certain amount of time, we learn that Eva is very sick. When she is at her final moments, Eva makes her father promise that he will make sure that when she dies that he will set all the slaves free, of course Mr. St. Clare promises. The day after Eva’s funeral, Mr. St. Clare becomes depressed and miserable because he is now alone and stuck with his cruel wife. Uncle Tom attempts to help Mr. St. Clare through his loss. Unfortunately, soon after Eva died, two drunken men stabbed Mr. St. Clare while he was in a café reading the newspaper. Not expecting his own death so soon, Mr. St. Clare did not have any time to complete the free papers for all the slaves like Eva had requested. All of the slaves ended up belonging to Marie, Mr. St. Clare’s cruel wife. She ended up selling all the slaves to cruel slave holders. Uncle Tom ended up with a slave owner named Simon Legree. Simon is the worst kind of slave
holder. He treats all of his slaves like animals. As Uncle Tom continues to work on Legree’s plantation, Uncle Tom meets two new girls Cassy, who Legree seems to have a personal connection with and Emmeline, one of Legree’s slaves. They tell Uncle Tom that they want to kill Legree but Uncle Tom convinces them not to because it is a sin and a crime. They agree and they devise a plan together to run away. Hearing this news, Legree becomes furious and suspects that Tom knew something about it. He brings him in for questioning; when Legree threatens him and demands he tell him where the girls went, Uncle Tom refuses and says he would rather die than tell him anything. Legree debates whether or not to punish him. Eventually his evil side takes over and he beats Uncle Tom all night, after that he orders his overseers Quimbo and Sambo to go on with the beating. Two days after the beating, his previous master’s son George finds out where he is and comes to visit him. He sees that George is very close to death and goes to him. Tom sees him and dies an elated man for seeing his old friend one last time. George threatens Legree saying that he will have him tried for murder, and that he will to everything in his power to eradicate slavery. In the end, we find out that Eliza reunited with her husband and her long lost mother, Cassy. They move from place to place and settle in Liberia where she is never heard of again. The United States have changed dramatically since the making of this book. Of course we still have some remaining slavery, human trafficking for example, but the slavery that was present in the 1800s doesn’t happen in this era anymore. We have learned to share as equals. There is no black and white; we’ve learned to see each other same way and respect each other. As much as it would be great to that that discrimination no longer exists, that would be a lie. There is still plenty of discrimination left; however, we are trying to fight against it as a united and equal nation, even after all these years. This novel really opened my eyes to what really happened in America when slavery was legal. Although this book was a bit gruesome and heartbreaking, I enjoyed it. I got to really understand what life was like for the African slaves. Some lived in great conditions like when Uncle Tom lived with the St. Clare family. They treated him with respect and they appreciated everything he did for them (except for Marie). Then there were those who lived in horrendous conditions like Prue, the female slave who lived across the St. Clare family, who was whipped to death by her masters. I never really understood what kind of lives these slaves led and with this novel I finally understood and I got to look through the eyes of someone who was constantly suffering. Stowe did not hold anything back when she wrote this and I’m glad she didn’t. She wrote the truth; she didn’t sugar coat which I liked because I would much rather read something raw and real rather than something fake.
his wife, Eliza asks Mrs. Shelby if her husband is planning on selling her son to Mr. Haley. Mrs. Shelby not knowing of the deal assures Eliza that Mr. Shelby wouldn’t dare to do that. Eventually, Mr. Shelby makes the deal and tells his wife about it. She is dismayed about his decision and reminds him that he promised Uncle Tom that he would set free and she tells him that she promised Eliza that Harry would not be sold. Unfortunately for Eliza and Uncle Tom, Mr. Shelby already signed the contract. Eliza, catching wind of the situation, she goes over to Uncle Tom’s cabin and she tells everyone about the deal. Uncle Tom said that he will not escape but he believes that Eliza should and that same night she does. As the novel goes on, we learn a lot about what happens with the characters. Eliza is now being pursued by slave hunters hired by her new master, Mr. Haley. Uncle Tom finds his way on a ship traveling down the Mississippi River, having the permission to roam about the boat freely, Uncle Tom meets a young girl Eva St.
Clare and they quickly become friends. One day, Eva fell off the side of the boat and Uncle Tom dove in after her. Eva’s father was very grateful to Uncle Tom that he accepted Eva’s request and bought Uncle Tom from Haley. Uncle Tom spent a great amount of time with the St. Clare family as their chauffer. But the one person who he grew the closest to was Eva. They spent a great amount of time together. Eva has always appreciated the slaves she had in her home, to her there was no black and white; she saw everyone as equals. After a certain amount of time, we learn that Eva is very sick. When she is at her final moments, Eva makes her father promise that he will make sure that when she dies that he will set all the slaves free, of course Mr. St. Clare promises. The day after Eva’s funeral, Mr. St. Clare becomes depressed and miserable because he is now alone and stuck with his cruel wife. Uncle Tom attempts to help Mr. St. Clare through his loss. Unfortunately, soon after Eva died, two drunken men stabbed Mr. St. Clare while he was in a café reading the newspaper. Not expecting his own death so soon, Mr. St. Clare did not have any time to complete the free papers for all the slaves like Eva had requested. All of the slaves ended up belonging to Marie, Mr. St. Clare’s cruel wife. She ended up selling all the slaves to cruel slave holders. Uncle Tom ended up with a slave owner named Simon Legree. Simon is the worst kind of slave
holder. He treats all of his slaves like animals. As Uncle Tom continues to work on Legree’s plantation, Uncle Tom meets two new girls Cassy, who Legree seems to have a personal connection with and Emmeline, one of Legree’s slaves. They tell Uncle Tom that they want to kill Legree but Uncle Tom convinces them not to because it is a sin and a crime. They agree and they devise a plan together to run away. Hearing this news, Legree becomes furious and suspects that Tom knew something about it. He brings him in for questioning; when Legree threatens him and demands he tell him where the girls went, Uncle Tom refuses and says he would rather die than tell him anything. Legree debates whether or not to punish him. Eventually his evil side takes over and he beats Uncle Tom all night, after that he orders his overseers Quimbo and Sambo to go on with the beating. Two days after the beating, his previous master’s son George finds out where he is and comes to visit him. He sees that George is very close to death and goes to him. Tom sees him and dies an elated man for seeing his old friend one last time. George threatens Legree saying that he will have him tried for murder, and that he will to everything in his power to eradicate slavery. In the end, we find out that Eliza reunited with her husband and her long lost mother, Cassy. They move from place to place and settle in Liberia where she is never heard of again. The United States have changed dramatically since the making of this book. Of course we still have some remaining slavery, human trafficking for example, but the slavery that was present in the 1800s doesn’t happen in this era anymore. We have learned to share as equals. There is no black and white; we’ve learned to see each other same way and respect each other. As much as it would be great to that that discrimination no longer exists, that would be a lie. There is still plenty of discrimination left; however, we are trying to fight against it as a united and equal nation, even after all these years. This novel really opened my eyes to what really happened in America when slavery was legal. Although this book was a bit gruesome and heartbreaking, I enjoyed it. I got to really understand what life was like for the African slaves. Some lived in great conditions like when Uncle Tom lived with the St. Clare family. They treated him with respect and they appreciated everything he did for them (except for Marie). Then there were those who lived in horrendous conditions like Prue, the female slave who lived across the St. Clare family, who was whipped to death by her masters. I never really understood what kind of lives these slaves led and with this novel I finally understood and I got to look through the eyes of someone who was constantly suffering. Stowe did not hold anything back when she wrote this and I’m glad she didn’t. She wrote the truth; she didn’t sugar coat which I liked because I would much rather read something raw and real rather than something fake.