LITR 4232: American Renaissance
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Student Presentation, spring 2001

Reader: Lydia Gonzales

Recorder: William Frith

My presentation was on selections from Uncle Tom’s Cabin and how they demonstrated Objective 2: The contemporaneous movement of the narrative genre of "romance." To support this theory I focused on the romance patterns and heroes in the story.

First of all, Harriet Beecher Stowe follows the usual story pattern for a romance. On page 2316 the story begins with the appearance that all is well for the heroine, Eliza. At the bottom of this page Eliza encounters a problem and her journey for freedom begins. Page 2320 describes the rescue of Eliza from danger and capture. This is where her freedom begins. By reflecting on these points in the story, it is easy to see the story pattern starting out good, progressing to bad, and ending happily.

I then pointed out the hero of Tom in the story. On page 2340 Tom shows heroism when he rescues Eva from drowning. At the end of the story on page 2354 Tom is coming to the end of his spiritual journey. This scene is an example of Transcendence when Tom passes on into the after-life.

The last point I made was concerning the way Stowe portrays the slaves in a way that humanizes them. This is emphasized on page 2323 where a slave owner has posted an ad for a runaway slave. This example shows how inhumane the slave owners are and increases the sympathy that readers feel for the slaves.

To begin the discussion I asked for volunteers to point out other examples of romance in the selections. Cleo pointed out how Eliza running through the woods, clutching her son brought to mind the Madonna image. Then Dr. White stated how a romance usually has the stereotypical heroes/villains and how Stowe makes heroes out of people society normally despised. Erin said that Stowe also made the slaves sound more intelligent and capable than the owners.

Dr. White suggested that we "run with the idea of transcendence." Cleo began by saying how transcendence is freedom for Tom. Erin said Tom was making a statement about future freedoms. Cleo interpreted Tom’s dying as proof of his owner’s robbing of his own soul by mistreating Tom. Dr. White suggested that Tom represented a Christ figure. Valerie pointed out that Tom rose above all others, another biblical reference. Keely agreed by stating that the lower the status, the more the person was redeemed, and that the higher status became beast-like. Dr. White stressed how the "outsiders" seemed to be the heroes. Cleo concluded the discussion with a quote from the Bible, "the meek shall inherit the Earth."