Banned Books: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe



                Mr. Shelby has arranged for his slave Tom to be sold in order to pay off debts that he has incurred. Tom will leave behind his wife and children to pay off his owner’s debts. Mrs. Shelby is furious. Not only with the sell of Tom but that of her own slave, Eliza’s, son Harry. She has promised Eliza that her son would never be taken from her and yet Mr. Shelby has made arrangements to do just that. Eliza after learning of the purchase of her son takes him in the dead of night and runs for her and her son’s freedom. Tom stayed, wished his family goodbye and trusted in the Lord that even though he was heading to the South no harm should come to him. Years would pass and Tom’s faith would never waiver through all the trials and tribulations he endured.
                Now that I have written this brief synopsis of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I almost don’t know what else to say. This is a novel that I am glad I read now, when I was old enough and mature enough to not be filled with hate over this disgusting past that existed in the country I reside in, The United States of America. This novel is about slavery and how it tore families apart. It isn’t gory or over the top and filled with torture. It’s a heartbreaking account of the family aspect of slavery. It details how man at one point could be viewed as property and treated as such with no regard to the emotions, and capacity of a human being. It is extremely believable and yet horrific in its honest delivery. I waited a long time before I ever attempted to read this book. I was well aware of the reference to someone being an “Uncle Tom” but it was always used in such a negative light that I always imagine this book to be something that I would ultimately tire of. I am shocked that I was so invested in this novel. Tom was not anyone to be ashamed of. I see the same thing in this story that I did in Gone with the Wind where some of the slaves were extremely loyal to their owners. In this novel Uncle Tom was extremely loyal to his faith and felt it his duty to be an honest man and a hard worker. I could never fault the character for that.
                This novel was about so much more than Tom though. This novel was about all the men, women and children he encountered throughout this story. This was about everyone’s loss and everyone’s pain. It was about the kind slave owner and well as the ruthless one. It was about the Christians who turned a blind eye on the atrocity that was slavery and those who genuinely tried to help those in chains. This novel took in the different aspects of slavery and placed them collectively in a novel to show the many aspects of the story. The bravery this must have taken Stowe to produce this in 1852 before the Civil War had even begun is amazing. I can only imagine the reaction that this had across the country. It must have been extremely eye opening to the masses to have the story conveyed in such a way. I am not surprised at all that this novel was banned, immediately upon its release, in the South. Of course they wouldn’t want such Abolitionist propaganda spread. It was also banned in Russia for its religious outlook and idea of equality. More recently in 1984 the novel was forbidden in Waukegan, Illinois for its language. It seems to me most, especially in the South, wouldn’t want to read this book and see the reflection of themselves. This was an incredible novel. One that exposed slavery to its very core, to the bones and heart of the matter. Cruelty existed and there is no way to hide from it, especially when a novel such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin exposed it so poignantly.

“Banned Book Awareness: Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe” Baldassorro, R Wolf

http://bannedbooks.world.edu/2011/03/06/banned-book-awareness-uncle-toms-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe/

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