Uncle Toms Cabin Criticism - 1016 Words

Harriet Beecher Stowe tells stories of different slaveholders apathetic, abusive, and hypocritical actions towards various slaves in her beautifully written novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, during the 19th century in order to help convey the true evil behind slavery- no matter the circumstance. The author allows readers to view slavery from seemingly safe environments to hostile settings, and continually shows the bad in every situation. The reality of slavery is shown to anyone willing to read this novel, and Harriet Beecher Stowe does a good job of combining various stories that tie together in order to complete her goal. The friendliest of environments in the south proved to be apathetic in situations when it came to a slave owners and†¦show more content†¦Harriet Beecher Stowe gives readers insight on situations where masters went unpunished when they physically and mentally abused their slaves. One example of how this trauma was present in the novel was when Prue, slave to Augustine St.’s neighbor, explains her past experience with a slave owner that caused her to lose faith in the Lord and become an alcoholic. When Uncle Tom, the main character, seeks to install faith within Prue and attempt to end her terrible drinking habits, Prue informs him that drinking is her way to the cope with the horrors she has been through. She was physically abused by a former master to breed children that would be sold at the market. (pg. 129) After one of her births, she fell ill while caring for the master’s wife, and Prue was no longer able to provide milk to her newborn. Without any sympat hy towards Prue, her master did not give her milk to feed the child, and he forced her to allow the child to die. The poor woman describes how she had to hear the cries of the child and watch the child become nothing but skin and bones until the child took its last breath. She explains how she couldn’t stop hearing the cries of the baby, even after the baby had passed away. She resorted to drinking in order to drown out of the cries of the child, and lost faith in the Lord. Prue claims that if there was a Heaven, that it would probably be filled with whites, and she would rather go to hell, for theShow MoreRelatedSource Evaluation of Uncle Toms Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe1263 Words   |  6 Pagesreaders? It could be the criticism surrounding the novel? Whatever the criterion for a good novel is Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe may well be one of the critical controversial novel of its time. Regarding Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I collected sources about the critical controversy about the novel. In my findings, there is Norton Critical Edition, A Routledge Literary Sourcebook on the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet B. Stowe, lastly â€Å"The Little Cabin of Uncle Tom† by Egbert Oliver. I classifiedRead MoreUncle Toms Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe1144 Words   |  5 PagesUncle Tom’s Cabin has been explained as being a history of harmful acts towards Blacks in America for a period of a hundred and thirty years (Stowe, â€Å"Nineteenth†). 51).The book Uncle Tom’s Cabin was one of History’s favorite books (Stowe, â€Å"Nineteenth† 1). It talks about how Tom would do anything for the white man (Stowe, Uncle 1). The southerners did not give Harriet Beecher Stowe and credit for writing the book (Piacentino 1). Uncle Tom showed a lot of Christianity in this book, but the masterRead MoreAnalysis of Uncle Toms Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe Essays791 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is arguably the most influential novel in American History. Stowe’s sentimental writing style seized the imagination of her readers and Uncle Tom’s Cabin became the standard of the abolition movement. Uncle Tom, one of the protagonists, spreads Christianity and dies for his faith, like Christ. By equating Uncle Tom with Jesus Christ, Harriet Beecher Stowe deliberately provokes her audience to socialRead MoreEssay on Modern Criticism of Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin1403 Words   |  6 PagesModern Criticism of Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin It is extremely difficult for the modern reader to understand and appreciate Uncle Tom’s Cabin because Harriet Beecher Stowe was writing for an audience very different from us. We don’t share the cultural values and myths of Stowe’s time, so her novel doesn’t affect us the way it affected its original readers. For this reason, Uncle Tom’s Cabin has been heavily scrutinized by the modern critic. However, the aspects of the novel that are criticizedRead MoreUncle Toms Cabin1320 Words   |  6 PagesIn the year 1852, nine short years before the civil war began in 1861, Harriet Stowe published arguably the most influential, groundbreaking, and controversial books in American history, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The novel drew widespread criticism for the depiction of African Americans and slaves in a time when the United States of America was teetering on civil unrest due to the strength of the opposing views between the North and the South. The rapid e xpansion and growth the United States throughoutRead MoreEssay about The Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin4044 Words   |  17 PagesThe Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, has been widely identified as the most influential American novel in the country’s history. Books have, of course, always had the power to bring about great social change, and the widespread distribution of Uncle Tom’s Cabin gave a vivid image of Southern life, particularly the mistreatment of slaves, to the entire country. While slavery was previously an issue between slaveholders and abolitionistsRead MoreDeconstruction of the Theory of White Supremacy in Uncle Toms Cabin1104 Words   |  5 PagesDeconstruction of the Theory of White Supremacy in Uncle Toms Cabin In the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe unmasks the unjust and unfair treatment of blacks by whites during the time in which she lived. Stowe goes on to criticize American slave owners for their irrational justifications of slavery. They use racial superiority and sub-human categorization of blacks as means of justifying slavery. She deconstructs the theory of white supremacy in her emotional and thoughtRead MoreHarriet Beecher Stowe And Sojourner Truth1297 Words   |  6 Pagesminds of Americans, by producing a controversial text named, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was her very own insight on the infamous dark and immoral topic, of which the country as a whole had once had once gone through. While reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin It is indeed very easy to view Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel as if it is promoting racial stereotypes, rather than challenging them. As seen in chapter 1 of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, slavery seems to be glorified amongst the slave owner, and theRead MoreHarriet Beecher Stowe : An Abolitionist1645 Words   |  7 Pageswill not be silent. Shortly thereafter, in June 1851, when she was 40, the first installment of Uncle Tom Cabin was published in the National Era. She originally used the subtitle The Man Who was one thing, but soon changed to life among the lowly. Quotas were published weekly from June 5, 1851, to April 1, 1852. For the newspaper serialization of his novel, Stowe was paid only $ 400. Uncle Tom s Cabin was published in book form 20 March 1852, by John P. Jewett with an initial print run of 5,000Read MoreHarriet Beecher Stowe And Sojourner Truth1439 Words   |  6 Pagesminds of Americans, by producing a controversial tex t named, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was her very own insight on the infamous dark and immoral topic, of which the country as a whole had once had once gone through. While reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin It is indeed very easy to view Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel as if it is promoting racial stereotypes, rather than challenging them. As seen in chapter 1 of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, slavery seems to be glorified amongst the slave owner, and the