Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - Research Paper Example

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by “Harriet Beecher Stowe”: Introduction: Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a play authored by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The play narrates the story of slaves. Being a strong feminist, Stowe believed that women could play a fundamental role in bringing an end to slavery. In the story, Stowe showed how Eliza escaped as a slave to protect her son and as the end of the story explains, to reunite the whole family. Also, Eva, the little angelic girl was a practicing Christian and was a ray of hope for those who were with her. This way, Stowe portrayed women as a means of help and guidance for the sufferers. Unfortunately, slavery still persists in the contemporary world. As per the estimates of Anti-Slavery International, “over 27 million people around the world are slaves, and at least 200 million people exist in some form of bondage” (Smith). The ultimate and perhaps, the most fundamental message of the story Uncle Tom’s Cabin is that we should realize and stand against the institution of slavery that saps the basic human rights of slaves, and destroys their family and social life. The evil institution of slavery should be condemned: The immorality that forms an intrinsic trait of slavery is the single most dominant theme of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Although there are several other themes that make part of the story like the sanctity of motherhood and the relieving nature of Christianity as well as their interrelationship in the context of the institution of slavery. Throughout the story, Stowe has fundamentally made an attempt to make the reader realize the immorality of slavery and the potential ways in which the slaves’ life style and relationships are affected. Often, the reader feels that Stowe suddenly changed the mood of expression just to convey her hatred against slavery to the reader, contrary to the general calmness of the scene. For example, while setting the scene in which the white woman has Tom with her in the steamboat says, “The most dreadful part of slavery, to my mind, is its outrages of feelings and affections—the separating of families, for example” (Stowe 150). In the story, Stowe explained how dreadful effects slavery has on the family system of those who happen to be its victim. Families of slaves are shattered and the individual members have to live away from one another. Family is a very sacred institution, and lays basis for a balanced and healthy society. Stowe talked about various aspects of the slave life because of which they have to suffer every now and then. One more factor that makes the slave life quite miserable is that there are no recognized standards of ethics that slaves themselves may follow. When Eliza wanted to escape Shelby’s plantation taking Harry with her, she offered Uncle Tom to accompany her and enjoy a freed life. However, Uncle Tom chose not to do so, when he could have done it if Eliza did it. The fundamental reason behind his refusal to join Eliza in her attempt to flee from Shelby’s plantation was that Uncle Tom felt, his loyalty towards his master would become questionable if he consented with the offer of Eliza. If we consider Uncle Tom’s perspective, he was not wrong in his decision. It is not that he did not like freedom or was happy being loyal to a master who would betray him and sell him over to another person just for the sake of some money. Instead, Uncle Tom chose to adopt the ethical course of action and “to him”, it was the demand of ethics to remain with his master. He preferred his master’s ownership over him over his personal freedom. However, later part of the story explains the result of the decision of both Eliza and Uncle Tom. Eliza made an effort and ultimately, was lucky enough to unite with her long shattered family. On the other hand, Uncle Tom kept rolling in the hands of one master and another till the time. One more time, it so happened that Uncle Tom was encouraged by a fellow slave to protest against a shrewd and cruel master, but he thought he owed his master all the patience and undue bearing because he belonged to him. He submitted himself in the hands of inconsiderate masters. It was, “perhaps”, his wrong choice that led him to a bad ending and he embraced death after severe weakness, or else, he dies because he was “destined to” die at that time. Because of their ownership, masters naturally hold a right over the slaves they buy. On the other hand, it is also not wrong of slaves if they tend to escape their masters given every human being is born independent of any ownership. If the analysis has to be unbiased, a slave has just the same rights as those of a master. Taking this into consideration, if a slave becomes fugitive and escapes the owner’s land, is he an anarchist or a freedom fighter? Should we call his/her attempt to break free of the chains of slavery crime or fight-for-right? Was Eliza wrong and unjust if she made an effort to remain with her son? Should Harry not have been allowed to grow under the care of his mother? Could she ever have reunited her family had she not escaped the prison of slavery? Was it wrong if George, Eliza and Harry happened to meet one another and lived a free and happy life ever after? What was more important for Eliza, commitment to her master Shelby or her own family? Although there is no point denying the fact that every individual has to die at a time that is pre-decided by God, but did Uncle Tom not deserve to be taken good care of by his masters? Are there any rights for slaves at all? These are the questions that we commonly do not pay much heed to, though Stowe raised them through her pen. Discussion: Slavery has for long, remained one of the topics that have invited innumerable debates. Slaves are human beings. Nature does not distinguish between individuals on the basis of their race, cast, creed or color. Every human being is born alike. The poor have the same physical features and traits as those of the rich. This proves that the distinction among individuals on the basis of their origin, race or color is not natural. Instead, slavery is a man made concept. Those in power have been ruling others that were less powerful in terms of financial status, social recognition, power, autonomy and number. Rights of the poor have been subdued by the richer lot. Same holds true for slaves. Slaves are just as humans as their masters. Accordingly, they have just the same ethical standards and ethos as those of the rich. Slaves are normal human beings that have families. There are parents, siblings, wives and such other relations. The heinous institution of slavery is unwatchful of the family life of slaves as human beings. The contemporary society has become very considerate and watchful of respecting the human rights over the years. Issues like effects of parental divorce on children, social exclusion, racism and ethical responsibilities are the topics that are frequently selected for discussion on social platforms, public forums and media. Ways and means are being realized in order to ensure psychologically safe and healthy upbringing of single parent children. Studies of human psychology have been progressed to the extent that more and more people are consulting psychiatrists and psychologists for their personal issues. In a society that is so concerned about maintaining a psychologically safe and healthy environment for all citizens, should people be totally ignorant of the effects of Harry’s separation from Eliza on her son’s psychology? Obviously not! Leaving apart all other aspects of the injustice that forms an intrinsic trait of the slavery, if Harry’s separation from his mother was disastrous for his mental health, there is no point arguing that Eliza’s attempt to escape Shelby’s plantation in order to live with her son was unethical. Although she had been disloyal towards her master, yet there was a more important cause to take care of than safeguarding the interests of her master. That tells that Eliza’s attempt to escape Shelby’s plantation was not unethical. If that was not unethical, that essentially means that Shelby’s attempt to separate Harry from Eliza was unethical. Not only this, any institution that allows an individual like Shelby to decide for the separation or union of a mother and a child violates the laws of ethics. This puts the whole concept of slavery at stake on the grounds of ethics. This means that through her story, Stowe made an attempt to fundamentally question the justification and validity of the institution of slavery considering it from the point of view of ethics. The point discussed in the preceding paragraph highlights only one aspect through which Stowe denied the validity of the institution of slavery. In fact, in her story, she has come up with several ways in which a slave’s display of loyalty towards his/her master becomes questionable. As we go through the story, we learn that Uncle Tom displayed uttermost sincerity towards his masters a number of times. The first time he refused to join Eliza and Harry, he was left back to serve Shelby who had not even bothered not to sell him because of his extreme servitude. Later, as Mr. Haley lost both Eliza and Harry, he still had Uncle Tom to please him. Even though Uncle Tom had chosen to stay on Shelby’s plantation and not leave it without the approval of his master, he was actually very afraid by the mere thought of leaving the plantation and was hiding his fear in reciting Bible. He was actually quite aged and knew very well that he would not be able to stand the fury of his new master in case he dealt him with cruelty as not many masters conventionally dealt their slaves with care and patience. Uncle Tom knew that he could even die if he was treated brutally. Later, when Mr. Haley returned to Shelby’s plantation to get Uncle Tom, he was not happy to leave. Even his fellow slaves were very overwhelmed by the mere thought of Uncle Tom’s departure, yet he did not have any option to make use of and abandon the idea of leaving. Therefore, Uncle Tom attempted to seek refuge in Bible and derived contentment and courage from its verses. It was indeed, because of the blessings of Bible that he happened to meet little angelic Miss Eva and earned her father’s gratitude by saving his daughter from drowning. However, his memorable days with Eva could not last for long and he ultimately had to be sold to shrewd Simon Legree by Mrs St. Clare so that her husband’s debts could be settled after his death. Legree was shown in the novel as a typical merciless master who derives pleasure from beating his servants. Legree was a habitual drinker, and would beat Uncle Tom mercilessly. It was indeed, time, Uncle Tom left Legree’s plantation because his health was constantly deteriorating as a result of uninterrupted scolding offered by Legree. Luck even provided Uncle Tom with another chance in that he was offered help by Cassy, though his determination and sense of responsibility was just too strong to let him free of the tensions he was caught in. Once again, Uncle Tom refused to accede to the proposal of Cassy as he formerly had refused to leave Shelby’s plantation with Eliza. To his utmost loyalty, he fell badly ill and did not take long to die. This was the result of display of extreme loyalty towards masters on the part of servants. Had Uncle Tom consented to escape Shelby’s and Legree’s plantation with Eliza and Cassy respectively, he could have lived a much better life and would have had companions to take good care of him. Perhaps, if it was destined that way, Uncle Tom could have enjoyed good health and could have lived longer. It is every human being’s fundamental right not to be given physical assault. Physical assault is against the laws of ethics. Taking this into consideration, if Uncle Tom left Legree just to save his life, would it be unethical? Certainly not! That essentially means that Uncle Tom’s decision to stay on Legree’s plantation or even Shelby’s plantation was wrong because his decision was the root cause of his dismay and dreadful end in the long turn. However, had he left their plantations, that would be counted as disloyalty. That means that displaying loyalty towards masters specially when they are being unjust is no requirement of ethics. Once again, Stowe challenged the fundamental existence of the institution of slavery. Moreover, the story tells a number of times how Bible helps the characters derive contentment and psychological happiness and satisfaction by reciting it. In conventional designs of slavery, how many slaves are allowed to recite Bible? Even if some master is considerate enough to let his slaves recite Bible, to what extent can a slave actually practice it given his family structure is distorted, his wills and wishes are guarded by the dictations of his master? A slave is not free to practice anything as per his own wish. This essentially means that although Bible is a source of satisfaction and contentment for every body, slaves can often not practice its dictations because of the constraints of their masters’ orders. This causes one to think, what is more important, practicing Bible or following orders of shrewd masters? Certainly practicing Bible? Again, the institution of slavery is challenged. Many Christians condemn slavery and think of it as inhumane (Gaudreau). Many people claim that slavery is not prohibited in Bible. “It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1), but does not outlaw slavery altogether” (gotquestions.org). However, very few people actually know how different today’s slavery is from the kind of slavery Bible talks about. In Biblical meanings, slavery was more of a social status and individuals were not involved in it on the basis of cast, creed or color as is the trend nowadays or has remained the trend for centuries. Moreover, Bible talks about slaves who are very poor and can not afford the daily life expenses, incur debts and when can not return them, sell themselves. Thus, they become the territory of their masters. However, Bible states proper laws, rules and regulations that the masters must respect should they keep slaves. No such laws exist for protecting the rights of slaves in many countries in the contemporary world. For example, Human Rights Watch declared that millions of Indonesian maids are offered physical and verbal abuse and are being enslaved simply for the government is reluctant to implement the rules and regulations formulated for their protection (Aglionby). Stowe has made an excellent effort to discuss the miseries of slave life. Works cited: Aglionby, John. “Thousands of child maids are condemned to slavery in Indonesia, rights report finds.” 21 June 2005. Web. 2 Jan. 2011. . Gaudreau, G. R. “Biblegod The Good And Slavery.” n.d. Web. 2 Jan. 2011. . gotquestions.org. “Does the Bible condone slavery?” 2010. Web. 2 Jan. 2011. . Smith, S. E. “Is There Still Slavery in the World?” 8 Sep. 2010. Web. 2 Jan. 2011. . Stowe, Harriet B. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Vintage Books. Modern Library Edition. 1991. Read More