I finished Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe last night. I must admit that as of Sunday, when I was halfway through, I was ready to chunk it. It was slow and a bit overly dramatic and sentimental without much happening. So Monday, I (ahem) turned to the end to work backwards through what I needed to know to get the just of the book. Well, apparently I had been teetering on the edge of the climax because I worked myself back to within a few pages of where I was. So therefore I pressed on. I was surprised. I really did think the book as a whole was going to be a condemnation of the South for it's perpetuation of the institution of slavery at the time. After all, Lincoln is quoted as calling Mrs. Stowe "the little lady who started the Great Civil War". (It's Lincoln's quote - call it whatever you want to - War of Northern Aggression, War Between the States - I don't care - I just don't want a litany of comments over the rightful name -but as usual, I digress.)
Stowe does condemn the South for the perpetuation of slavery, but she also condemns the North for being all talk and no action. Which I found interesting - and balanced. The character of St. Clare, a plantation owner in New Orleans, and well-loved by his slaves, but thought to be too indulgent towards them by his peers, chides his northern cousin, Miss Ophelia, for her strong opinions against the institution, by asking, "are you willing to take in a freed slave and educate them, care for them and prepare them for the world?" That was a great question.
In another conversation between two gentlemen on a steamboat, the southern gentleman speaks against cruel slave owners and how they ruined the reputation of the majority of slave owners who do treat their slaves well and care for them. Sounds like a good argument until the other gentleman replies.
'And yet your laws allow him [the cruel slave master] to hold any number of human beings subject to his absolute will, without even a shadow of protection; and low as he is, you cannot say that there are not many such.'
'Well', said the other, 'there are also many considerate and humane men among planters.'
'Granted,' said the young man; 'but, in my opinion, it is you considerate, humane men, that are responsible for all the brutality and outrage wrought by these wretches; because if it were not for your sanction and influence, the whole system could not keep foot-hold for an hour. If there were no planters except such as that one,' said he, pointing with his finger to Legree(the cruel salve master), who stood with his back to them, 'the whole thing would go down like a millstone. It is your respectability and humanity that licenses and protects his brutality.'pg.315
Now to all my "state's rights" friends - you are not allowed to comment on anything but the book because that is what I am writing about. I found the argument interesting - that's all. I am not into the South rising again or extrapolating the reasons why the South has been given a bad wrap. I'm from Texas, and I live in Peru. Remember the Alamo! ¡Viva Perú!
I just thought it ended up being a more thought provoking book than I had believed it was going to be. I came to really love the characters, especially Uncle Tom with he steadfastness and love for Jesus and others, as well as Cassy and all of her wounds and others too numerous to mention. Push through the first half, don't get bogged down in the sentimentality, hear the voice of faith and perseverance, and get to know the people and their stories. Their stories are their contexts.
6 comments:
You are doing a lot of posturing in your review of this book Heather. Do you suppose it will stir a new rise of southern resistance?
;-D
Obviously, Joshua Butcher, you did not read my penultimate paragraph about being from Texas and living in Peru. Shall I bold it to get the message across???
oh I read it, Heather Ferguson. I simply chose to ignore it and poke fun anyway. :-D
Stowe was a Unitarian stirring up trouble about something she knew nothing about--she had NEVER been to the South when she wrote the book. In fact, the closest she got was Cincinnati.
If you want some interesting reading, you should read the 'Slave Narratives', an oral history of slaves done in the Depression by the Federal Writers' Project. Many (though not all) of the former slaves speak in glowing terms of their years in slavery and of their masters. (The narratives are available on the Internet.)
I'm not coming down on you, Heather, I just HATE that book and the trouble she caused by writing it.
If you want an interesting exercise, I would challenge you to find where in the Bible the institution of slavery is condemned as immoral. (As an institution, as opposed to some who may have been abusive or carried it out wrongly.)
Whew. I am out of breath now. Way to go, Heather--you have successful pushed the button that is certain to get me ranting. And ranting. And ranting. And ...
Ashlee and Gracie Mae send their best to you all (me too!).
Meet Matt Lee, direct descendant of Robert E. Lee and historian, specializing in all things southern.
Whew!
Again, I just thought it was an interesting read.
Get me that other book, Matt.
Hello, Matt Lee! Just a note about those Great Depression slave narratives - I studied some of those for my major. 1) Most of the interviewers for that project were white Southerners and strangers to the interviewees, so their responses must be taken with a grain of salt, 2) Many of them were very very old during the Great Depression, and reminiscing about their youth, and 3) They were in the middle of the Great Depression, and therefore much like the Israelites in the desert, were wishing for slavery rather than hunger. My two cents...
Post a Comment