Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of the most influential authours of her time, reaching people in all lengths of America with her works. In her book Uncle Tom’s cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author communicates the inhumanity of slavery by showing the hardships for an average slave; the brutal mistreatment of slaves by their owners and being denied basic human rights, and the effect of the slave system.
Stowe uses imagery of the cruel things done by masters to the slaves they own to prove to the readers the barbarism of slavery. The brutality is most openly demonstrated in Simon Legree’s treatment of Tom, when Legree tries to harden Tom because he wants to make him an overseer on the farm. (297) Tom was subject to many beatings when he …show more content…
She uses the tangled story of Eliza, George, Emily, and Cassy as an example of how easily slaves got seperated from friends and loved ones. George and Eliza, married although not legally, and with son,on different farms.(16-17) , Emily, the sister that George lost long ago , and Cassy, Eliza’s mother whom she was separated from (362). This story shows that slaves could not live with their families peacefully, that they had to be in constant fear of never seeing one another again. The second evil of the slave system is its ability to incriminate those not directly in slavery. One example is Arthur Shelby. While he doesn’t treat his slaves cruelly, he is not opposed to it and he owns slaves, therefore contributing to the slave system. Another key example is Augustine St Clare. He admitted to knowing that the neighbors had done something cruel to their slave, but he said that because there were no laws against it, there was no reason to interfere.(187) St Clare treats his slaves just as good as Shelby did, but sitting by while on farms all around them, slaves are being brutally abused, holds them accountable for supporting
Stowe uses imagery of the cruel things done by masters to the slaves they own to prove to the readers the barbarism of slavery. The brutality is most openly demonstrated in Simon Legree’s treatment of Tom, when Legree tries to harden Tom because he wants to make him an overseer on the farm. (297) Tom was subject to many beatings when he …show more content…
She uses the tangled story of Eliza, George, Emily, and Cassy as an example of how easily slaves got seperated from friends and loved ones. George and Eliza, married although not legally, and with son,on different farms.(16-17) , Emily, the sister that George lost long ago , and Cassy, Eliza’s mother whom she was separated from (362). This story shows that slaves could not live with their families peacefully, that they had to be in constant fear of never seeing one another again. The second evil of the slave system is its ability to incriminate those not directly in slavery. One example is Arthur Shelby. While he doesn’t treat his slaves cruelly, he is not opposed to it and he owns slaves, therefore contributing to the slave system. Another key example is Augustine St Clare. He admitted to knowing that the neighbors had done something cruel to their slave, but he said that because there were no laws against it, there was no reason to interfere.(187) St Clare treats his slaves just as good as Shelby did, but sitting by while on farms all around them, slaves are being brutally abused, holds them accountable for supporting