Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in support of the abolitionist movement. She also alludes that all white Christians should denounce slavery because it goes against God and religion. Throughout her novel, she attempts to persuade readers of the wrongfulness of slavery by calling on (specifically women’s) Christianity. However, in doing so, she creates tensions within her text including the contradictory use of Christianity to support a racist ideological system and the portrayal of Eva as a Christ figure. Stowe attempts to use Christianity to support the abolitionist movement, but in doing so she perpetuates racism and the idea that Blacks, no matter how deserving they are of freedom, are not equal to whites.
“…I have tried – tried most faithfully, as a Christian woman should – to do my duty to these poor, simple, dependent creatures. I have cared for them, instructed them, watched over them, and know all their little cares and joys, for years…” (Stowe 29)
Here, Stowe appeals to the reader’s …show more content…
Again, the “us/them” factor comes into play. This is a commentary on how “his race” (i.e. black people) are “simple and childlike” (124) in comparison to “their” white counterparts, who in many cases, are depicted like Eva: divine. In this passage, it is Eva, a white child, who is described as being a “creature.” However, the tone is completely different than when Stowe refers to black slaves as creatures. Here, Eva is something otherworldly to Tom, and even before they really meet she is shown as being not unlike an angel. To Tom, she is an anomaly to be looked upon with interest, to be revered. The word “creature” in this context refers to Eva’s individuality, the differences between her and other white children of her age. This is reinforced later in Stowe’s novel, when Eva and Tom’s relationship
“…I have tried – tried most faithfully, as a Christian woman should – to do my duty to these poor, simple, dependent creatures. I have cared for them, instructed them, watched over them, and know all their little cares and joys, for years…” (Stowe 29)
Here, Stowe appeals to the reader’s …show more content…
Again, the “us/them” factor comes into play. This is a commentary on how “his race” (i.e. black people) are “simple and childlike” (124) in comparison to “their” white counterparts, who in many cases, are depicted like Eva: divine. In this passage, it is Eva, a white child, who is described as being a “creature.” However, the tone is completely different than when Stowe refers to black slaves as creatures. Here, Eva is something otherworldly to Tom, and even before they really meet she is shown as being not unlike an angel. To Tom, she is an anomaly to be looked upon with interest, to be revered. The word “creature” in this context refers to Eva’s individuality, the differences between her and other white children of her age. This is reinforced later in Stowe’s novel, when Eva and Tom’s relationship