Stowe's work was addressed to white Americans, and its single aim was to make them face their own sacrificial behavior. It deserves to be criticized for trading in racial stereotypes and lacking realistic images of African American identity and empowerment. Yet no contemporary text had more actual effect in ending slavery in the United States. The reason for this is disarmingly simple. She presented African Americans as Jesus on the cross, and white Americans as the crowd that crucifies him. She did this by painting Uncle Tom as Christ, and his death as a passion. He is brutally flogged and
...more
