Race and the American Novel: Uncle Tom’s Cabin Personal Synthesis

In “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, the most important issue is slavery. The entire point of the novel is to make people see how atrocious it is. Harriet Beecher Stowe educated so many people with this novel and helped to end one of the worst American institutions we have ever had. Though many would argue that her novel was not well written or did not portray African Americans accurately, such as James Baldwin, many more believe that she is an inspiration who plays a significant role in American history. She is a very powerful writer that puts you into the place of the person being depicted. In this way, each and every reader is able to experience slavery firsthand. Not only that, but she placed the blame on the shoulders of those who weren’t doing anything about it. We see that when she writes, “Both the North and the South have been guilty before God” (Stowe, 408). These kind of broad statements made people want to take action.

Stowe uses different characters to show the different hardships of slavery. She used Eliza to show how hard it was for slaves to have their families torn away from them. It was clear that Eliza was willing to do anything to stay with her son and protect him. We know that this was a real struggle that slaves went through because of Solomon Northup’s “A Slave Auction Described by a Slave, 1841” where he depicted an actual mother having her son torn from her. She used Uncle Tom to show the physical hardships slaves had to endure. Because of his good nature, he was subjected to much pain, and eventually died rather than give away information about slaves who had escaped. This was a circumstance that could happen to any slave. George was used to show how much it didn’t matter if a slave was intelligent or handy, he or she was subjected to their master’s will. When he is removed from his factory job due to his masters ill will, he expresses his discontent when he says, “What right has he to make a dray-horse of me? To take me from things I can do- and do better than he can- and put me to work that any horse can do?” (Stowe, 14). We can see that he is feeling dehumanized and undervalued all because he is a slave and cannot make choices for himself.

This book gave humanity to those who were deprived of it. Though the work is fictional, it tugs on your heartstrings in a way that makes it feel real. By creating characters that people could empathize with, Stowe gave humanity to an entire race of humans that were viewed as entirely inferior by at least half the country. As tragic as it was that our country had to have a civil war, it was also extremely necessary, and Stowe showed people why. Slavery was an atrocity and once people realised that, change could really happen. We can never know for sure how much influence “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” had on American history, but I believe one could say that this novel at least played a significant role in creating the America that we know today.