This intriguing book–the second-best-selling book of the 19th century after the Bible–is a powerful and moving glimpse into the 1850s. I did not expect to find myself so enthralled by this work. To be sure, there are enough melodrama, pathos, and Christian belief in its pages for modern reviewers to condemn it as a “preachy” work of sentimentality, but looked at through a historical lens, it is a monumental work of literature.
History and Reception: What more need be said about the history and reception of this meteorically popular and enduringly famous novel? As far as I can remember, every American history course I’ve ever taken has mentioned it, but only this year did I decide to read it.
To understand this novel, it is helpful to know about its contemporary works. This book’s melodrama was not out of the norm–Stowe used a common literary hallmark of the time to convey the evils of slavery. It is also important to note that many contemporary works of fiction were dismissive of non-white people, presenting a contrast to Mrs. Stowe’s Christian fairness.
Synopsis/Blurb: Everything seems placid on the Shelby plantation in Kentucky, until Mr. Shelby, in debt, is forced to sell two of his slaves to an unscrupulous trader. Determined that her son not be sold, Eliza flees the plantation with him, determined to find freedom in Canada. Meanwhile, the older, more resigned Uncle Tom makes up his mind to go willingly with the trader, trusting God to be with him, though he is distraught to have to leave his wife and children.
Eliza, her husband George Harris, and their son make the dangerous journey north, while Tom is taken South and bought by a kind younger gentleman named Augustine St. Clare. Tom befriends St. Clare’s otherworldly daughter Eva. However, as calm as all seems, the evils of slavery mean that catastrophe is still in store for Tom.
Characters: The characters were unequivocally my favorite part of this book. I’m amazed at Stowe’s ability to have so many amazing characters in one book. Tom was such an admirable character and a Christian role model, always trusting God in the worst situations and living by his convictions. I adored Eva, who was reminiscent of Dickens’s Little Nell, even though she wasn’t realistic and modern readers would dislike her. I initially disliked Miss Ophelia, but her character arc surprised me–she overcame her hypocrisy and became truly admirable. St. Clare, Topsy, George Harris, Cassy–the other notable characters in Uncle Tom’s Cabin are too many to describe. On the other hand, Mrs. Stowe also excelled at writing abhorrent characters, such as Simon Legree, Marie St. Clare, and Haley.
Style: At first, I wasn’t overly impressed by Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s writing style–not that it was bad, but it simply didn’t have that Victorian flair I have come to expect. However, as I progressed through the book, I began to appreciate the prose, both when Stowe described characters and events with biting irony and when she painted a vivid picture with a dramatic writing style. I found so many excellent quotes, some of which I will add to this review.
Theme: The theme and Christian content in Uncle Tom’s Cabin are, along with the characters, some of my favorite aspects of the book. This novel makes it abundantly clear that Stowe was a devout Christian. The characters all have varying attitudes toward God, from the faithful Tom to the benevolent but agnostic St. Clare to the wantonly defiant Simon Legree. One of the themes of this book is God’s presence even in suffering, which the story of Tom illustrates.
Quotes:
“ ‘Religion!’ said St. Clare, in a tone that made both ladies look at him. ‘Religion! Is what you hear at church, religion? Is that which can bend and turn, and descend and ascend, to fit every crooked phase of selfish, worldly society, religion? Is that religion which is less scrupulous, less generous, less just, less considerate for man, than even my own ungodly, worldly, blinded nature? No! When I look for a religion, I must look for something above me, and not something beneath.’ ”
“In that simple heart waged a fierce conflict; the crushing sense of wrong, the foreshadowing, of a whole life of future misery, the wreck of all past hopes, mournfully tossing in the soul’s sight, like dead corpses of wife, and child, and friend, rising from the dark wave, and surging in the face of the half-drowned mariner! Ah, was it easy here to believe and hold fast the great password of Christian faith, that ‘God IS, and is the REWARDER of them that diligently seek Him’?”
“The longest way must have its close,—the gloomiest night will wear on to a morning. An eternal, inexorable lapse of moments is ever hurrying the day of the evil to an eternal night, and the night of the just to an eternal day.”
A Handful of Quietness 