Uncle Tom’s Cabin in The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910

May 09, 2016 Nicola rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, g1000

3 1/2 stars

Fair less emotionally traumatizing than I expected it to be - which I suppose can be attributed to Harriet Beecher Stowe wanting to 'show both sides of the argument' and putting in a good selection of 'see, it isn't so bad' scenes. Not that she herself actually thought so; she certainly still held a few racial prejudices which I am happy to write her a free pass for considering, but she tolerated no part of slavery. To her, any system which deprived a fellow human being of the right t 3 1/2 stars

Fair less emotionally traumatizing than I expected it to be - which I suppose can be attributed to Harriet Beecher Stowe wanting to 'show both sides of the argument' and putting in a good selection of 'see, it isn't so bad' scenes. Not that she herself actually thought so; she certainly still held a few racial prejudices which I am happy to write her a free pass for considering, but she tolerated no part of slavery. To her, any system which deprived a fellow human being of the right to determine their own destiny if they wished to and placed them at the mercy of a law which gave them no rights or consideration, was a system which needed to be totally dismantled.

A clearly passionate woman, she looked at every single aspect of slavery and poured scorn on the whole lot. And not just the slaveholding southerners, but all people who were complicit in the degradation of a race of people either through actively selling human flesh for profit (hypocritically saying that they weren't 'slave owners'), turning a political blind eye and voting to return escaping slaves, or just not vocally condemning the practice.

Harriet Stowe makes a clear pitch towards women in this work. Women who aren't interested in politics because such a thing is not a woman's place, but who, as good and worthy Christian women, should feel themselves bound by every duty to God and morality, to speak out against this horrific practice of slavery. No Christian, she maintains, should accept it, but women especially, loving mothers and wives, should feel particular abhorrence. The business of slavery tore children from their mothers and broke up marriages. What Christian mother, said Ms Stowe, could see such sacrilegious acts, and not be sickened to their souls.

An excellent book, very moving in parts. I found one specific section a little trying as it dealt with a very angelic being which brought back unpleasant memories of the last part of Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady. Still, this is a novel, and given the subject matter, some over-the-top proselytizing was only to be expected. ...more

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