Uncle Tom's Cabin: Or, Life Among the Lowly - Harriet Stowe

...to modern fiction, don't bother. Uncle Tom's Cabin is essentially a product of a very specific time in American history (it was published in 1852) and it is very important to consider attitudes at the time when reading it. Upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln only half-jokingly referrred to her as 'the little lady' who started the American civil war because of the phenomenal success of this novel.

And make no mistake: ...
...semi-literate slaves at the time, Uncle Tom's Cabin sold enough copies for there to be one for every four or five readers by the time of the civil war. The introduction to my Wordsworth Classics edition (well worth getting for the extensive notes and introduction) hails it as "arguably the most popular and certainly the most influential novel ever written by an American" - a great achievement when you consider the giants Beecher Stowe is ... more

If you're going to attempt to compare this novel to modern fiction, don't bother. Uncle Tom's Cabin is essentially a product of a very specific time in American history (it was published in 1852) and it is very important to consider attitudes at the time when reading it. Upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln only half-jokingly referrred to her as 'the little lady' who started the American civil war because of the phenomenal success of this novel.

And make no mistake: it was phenomenal. Discounting children and the 5 million or so semi-literate slaves at the time, Uncle Tom's Cabin sold enough copies for there to be one for every four or five readers by the time of the civil war. The introduction to my Wordsworth Classics edition (well worth getting for the extensive notes and introduction) hails it as "arguably the most popular and certainly the most influential novel ever written by an American" - a great achievement when you consider the giants Beecher Stowe is up against (Hemingway, Faulkner, Alcott, Fitzgerald...).

Even more amazing is that this book was written by a woman. While there is debate about whether or not Harriet Beecher Stowe was a 'true' feminist (not that the perfect feminist exists, because different people have different ideas as to who she is), political debate was very much a masculine forum in the mid-19th century (you may argue it still is now!). It would've been controversial for anyone to write this novel, but for a woman to write it was unheard of - shouldn't respectable middle-class American women be at home looking after the children instead of sparking national debate? One publishing company turned it down because an anti-slavery book by a woman might be bad for business.

Beecher Stowe was highly criticised for her novel at the time - some claimed she was no longer a 'lady' because of the scenes she wrote. It is ironic that no man had the balls to write about the things she did. She was even sent a black ear in the post in response to her novel. This criticism highlights what a brave decision is was for a woman in her position to write and publish such a book - an act of feminism that must never be ignored.

Interestingly, Harriet Beecher Stowe, by her own admission, "avoided all reading upon or allusion to the subject of slavery, considering it too painful to be enquired into" which, of course, was the very reason that such a novel was needed. She was moved to write Uncle Tom's Cabin by the "passage of and Northern response to the fugitive slave law" which banned citizens from aiding escaped slaves, threatening huge fines and imprisonment, "a direct appeal from her sister-in-law and a vision while she was taking communion". She was always sympathetic to the anti-slavery cause, but her intentions to write led to her discovering its many cruelties; much of the novel is based upon actual events, as acknowledged in Beecher Stowe's 'Concluding Remarks'.

That was the most terrible realisation for me: that the events in the novel were based on reality. I already knew a lot about slavery from studying it at school, including most of the punishments mentioned, but the humanisation of the victims really brings it home to you. The novel opens at the home of Mr. Shelby, who is forced to agree to sell both Uncle Tom ('Uncle' and 'Aunt' were used as respectful addresses to older slaves) and the young child of the slave who acts as his wife's chambermaid.

Determined not to let the trader get her son, Eliza Harris flees from the Shelby home with her boy; Uncle Tom resolutely accepts his doom. Uncle Tom is well-loved by slaves and the master's family alike and is an incredibly pious Christian. He acceots that he is to be sold with faith that God will bring his salvation and so he leaves his wife and young children with his Master's family's promise that they will take note of where he is sold and buy him back at the earliest opportunity - his Master had promised Tom his freedom before he sold him to settle a bad debt.

Uncle Tom's Cabin does act as a piece of propaganda and thus contains somewhat excessive references to Christianity in order to portray Tom as both a human and a good person, which in 1850s America meant being Christian. It's easy to criticise this decision to portray Tom as figuratively 'whiter than white' but it was necessary for middle class Americans to sympathise with the character - against pro-slavery maxim that all blacks were heathens and animals.

To get her point across, Beecher Stowe does sometimes lapse into stereotypes, none so more than in the case of Eva - the child of the family to whom Tom is first sold to. She is represented as a human angel who sees good in everybody and while this does occasionally seem tedious, it is the author's method of pointing out that the Bible sees all men as equals and, true to form, Eva is the only white character in the novel who is completely unracist. This is shown more clearly as ever when Eva's father's Northern cousin, Miss Ophelia, is disgusted to see her touch Topsy, the little girl her cousin bought her to bring up and prove her concept that black children brought up properly are just as capable of being good as white children. This highlights the hypocrisy of many Northerners in America at the time that opposed slavery but were unwilling to allow black people to integrate in their society.

Alongside the tale of Uncle Tom's docile acceptance of his condition, there is the tale of Eliza's escape to Canada. Eliza's husband, George, who was owned by another local man, decided to escape when his master stopped him from working in the factory where he sent George (to get more money for himself) because George was so successful - even inventing a labour-saving machine, the patent of which earned the master more money. He then drowned George's dog and even branded him in case he should try ot run away. Thankfully, George does escape and is reunited with Eliza and his son - though they are chased by slave catchers.

Harriet Beecher Stowe draws on many stories of slaves and slavery told to her, therefore enhancing the novel's ability to show as many of the atrocities of slavery as possible. The novel is touching, hilarious and tragic in places and even the sentimentality is bearable (unlike certain other novels). I've always said that the indication of a good book or film is one that makes you laugh, cry and/or think and this novel does all three.

The only thing that grated on me while reading the novel is the racism that creeps in (I presume unintentionally), referring to all black people/Africans in general. Although Beecher Stowe is almost complimentary in her generalisations (such as saying that all black people are docile and suited to Christianity), it's annoying. However, this is where you have to regard Uncle Tom's Cabin as a product of its historical context: the intended audience was white middle class Americans whom Beecher Stowe had to persuade that slaves were not the disgusting, stupid animals they had hitherto been portrayed as (mainly by those who earned their living through slavery).

It's easy to see why this novel was so sensational and shocking when it was first published: it depicts gruesome deaths and the (often unmentioned) sale of young girls to men who used them as unpaid prostitutes (thought Beecher Stowe expresses it more politely). And despite its need to be read as a product of its time, some of the ideas and experiences are still relevant today, which is why it's worth a read. Or you could just forget about it's historical importance and just enjoy the superb writing and a heartbreaking story that draws you into another world. Your choice. 

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