LITR 4232:
American Renaissance
University
of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2002
Student Presentation Summary
Reader: Terri
St. John
Recorder: Reani
King
26 February 2002
Selected
Readings from
Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
I felt the course objective most applicable to this
reading was Objective 3, which is defined as the “use of literature as a basis
for discussing representative problems and subjects of American culture.”
To begin the discussion, I referred to Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil
Government” (pages 1674 and 1677) targeting the passages referring to unfair
laws and the government’s participation in advocating slavery. As his
contemporary, it’s quite possible Stowe was prompted to write Uncle Tom’s
Cabin in response to Thoreau’s challenge to DO something about slavery.
She met his challenge by doing what she loved, writing.
Stowe uses several techniques to address the issues of equality and race
in order to get her message across. Primarily, she targets the female audience
because women were more likely to respond to family issues and although they
could not vote, their opinions did have influence with the men in their lives.
Secondly, she humanizes the slaves by emphasizing their positive traits such as
kindness, compassion, honesty, loyalty, and intelligence, but she also shows
their physical and emotional pain. Whether the pain is from physical punishment
or the trauma of losing a child, the slave experiences pain exactly like a white
person. Stowe also portrays the slaves as Christian, God-fearing people. Not
only do the slaves believe God will redeem them (in the hereafter if not on
earth), Tom’s character easily parallels with the attributes of Jesus Christ.
We see this when he is being beaten by Legree and he expresses concern for
Legree’s soul saying, “Yes, Legree, but who shall shut up that voice in thy
soul? That soul, past repentance, past prayer, past hope, in whom the fire that
never shall be quenched is already burning!” (2514) That scene closes with,
“Poor critters! said Tom, “I’d be willing to bar’ all I have, if it’ll
only bring ye to Christ! O, Lord! give me these two more souls, I pray!” Only
a pious person could be more concerned for others than for himself under these
conditions.
Another effective tool is the way Stowe addresses the reader directly.
She basically confronts the reader saying, “If it were your Harry,
mother, or your Willie, that were going to be torn from you by a brutal trader,
to-morrow morning . . .how fast could you walk?” (2486) She goes on to say,
“Not in the riches of omnipotence is the chief glory of God; but in
self-denying, suffering love! And blessed are the men who he calls to fellowship
with him, bearing their cross after him with patience.” (2517) thereby
acknowledging the fact that taking a stand against slavery will not be easy and
blessing those who meet the challenge.
DISCUSSION
TRANSCRIPT
Question:
What other examples of Stowe’s portrayal of blacks and whites helped
change the way slavery was accepted prior to the civil war?
LeAnne:
One of the things was, if you look at George, you have to like him. He
says that all the slaves were well treated, but then when the owner is in
financial difficulty he had to sell them.
Dr.
White: This
is a real standard of the south, that you will have kind men as slaveowners.
One example is Thomas Jefferson. He had it in his mind that he wanted the
slaves free, but on the other hand, as he got into deeper and deeper financial
difficulty toward the end of his life, he began to wonder what kind of estate he
was going to leave his daughter. Did he free his slaves and leave his daughter
in debt, or keep his slaves as slaves and leave his daughters in better shape
financially? This is the kind of dilemma even conscientious people faced.
Terri:
Did anyone read the
whole section? There were a couple of chapters we weren’t required to read,
but there were some interesting points in these chapters as well. When a
potential buyer for Tom asks his little girl why she wants to buy him, she
replies, “I want to make him happy.” (2511) This comment expresses how
innocence could see the pain in this slave even though she may not have
completely understood the situation. The child saw an unhappy man, not a slave.
This same man, while negotiating Tom’s price, questions how he (as a flawed
human) would measure up under the scrutiny of flesh buyers.
2nd
Question:
Was it the use of Christian virtues in the slaves or the fear of losing
one’s own children or spouse that had the greatest impact on the reader?
Student
1: I
think a lot of it was the Christian aspect. Put yourself in his shoes. I don’t
think I would be so Christian. Tom was so forgiving.
Student
2: I
think it’s more maternal because that is more universal than Christianity.
Everyone has a mom.
Candi:
At the beginning,
when she (Eliza) was running, holding her little boy, I can picture myself
picking up my six-year-old child, who is heavy. She kept saying that she
didn’t think about being tired because she was so determined to get away. I
wonder if I could carry my child that long without putting her down.
Brenda:
I think it was more maternal. As soon as she overheard what was going to
happen and even though they tried to talk her out of what she was going to do,
she was determined, right then, that she was going to pick up her child and run.
She picked up her child and started running. She even said she did not
stop to eat. Religion was there too, but at that time she was more concerned
with saving her child.
Student:
I think it was the man that tried to buy the little boy that said they
could get a replacement.
Terri:
Eliza’s husband had invented something yet the master held the patent.
This was interesting because it showed how intelligent a slave could be if given
an opportunity.
Student:
Women writers in particular were aiming at women. I feel like the
maternal side was heavily weighted. They
had intelligence but weren’t given the credit for it.
Terri:
One more thing struck me as interesting. Once, when my husband was not
able to go to go to church he asked me if I had gone for “us”. At the
beginning Shelby said his wife carried the Christian burden for him as well. In
writing to the women, maybe Stowe was thinking that they were carrying the
Christian burden for their men and it was their responsibility to influence
their husbands.
Dr.
White: You’re
really onto something there. The feminization of American culture causes the
church to become dominated by women. The guy in the pulpit is still a guy, but
the congregation is mostly women.
Terri:
OK, is that it?
Dr.
White: No,
you’re not done yet! I guess one thing that strikes me is that she is grounded
with maternal love and Christian aspects. Where are you going to run? Then
again, that’s what makes this good sympathy instead of a cheap, one-shot sort
of thing. She moves from one element to another real quickly.
Brenda:
She does move from one element to another real quickly. One minute she
(Eliza) was told that her husband was on his way to the house then she is lying
on the bed and she thought she was dreaming until she opened her eyes and saw
him lying there. It makes you feel for her at that particular time.
SUMMARY
Everyone seemed to agree that the use of both maternal and Christian
elements contributed to the success of Uncle Tom’s Cabin with the
maternal issues having the most impact. I believe the death of Stowe’s own son
in 1850, made her identify, on a very personal level, with slave mothers who
lost their children. This experience, along with her abhorrence of slavery,
created an emotional appeal that defied the criteria of quality writing.
However, with this issue, emotions made the difference.