Slavery In Tom And Silks By John Stowe

and homesteads with slaves is truly unbelievable. Some of the wagers slave owners made were true but others were a gimmick to encourage slaves to complete their work faster and to do a larger quantity of work in a day’s time. Even after this work was completed, some slaves still would not be granted with the pleasing part of their deal.
Tom, unlike some slave, was privileged with being able to have a couple masters that were trustworthy and stood up to their deals. Tom was able to get many letters written and sent back to his family members that were still owned my Mr. and Mrs. Shelby. Mr. and Mrs. Shelby had appreciated all of the work that Tom had done and treated his family and many other slaves as family in their home. Mrs. Shelby allowed Chloe, Tom’s wife, to keep the money she had earned work for the man (add job she did) to save up to buy Tom back so he could be owned by the Shelbys again.
Another time in the book when Stowe uses characters to show that slavery is inherently evil and immoral is when Tom is sitting on the boat to eventually end up at St. Clare’s house and Stowe, the author, writes about the how the slaves feel emotions just like, and as deeply as, other human beings. In doing so, she shows the mental tax slavery takes on individuals. The woman on the boat states that the bitterest part of slavery is the slave working so hard to acquire a family and then the family is taken away from them and sold to another slave master far, far away. She says the slave cannot blot out anything that incompases so much hope, love, memory, and fear if having a family that is theirs to watch over and protect. This quote shows the heartache slavery is impressing upon Tom and other slaves alike as well as the compassion the woman has toward other people 's’ feelings. The feelings of hurt and bitterness cannot be wiped away as easily as a table with crumbs on it. The mental tax of slavery are holes from deep loss that will never be filled. When Tom was sold and sent away from his family, his ability to protect and watch over his family was taken away by Mr. Shelby. Cassy felt the same raw emotions as Tom did when they were talking about what she had previously experienced by working for Legree. Cassy became very bitter during her time as a slave, specifically while working for Legree. Hardened by the things she had endured throughout her life and not easily influenced, Cassy was a very strong and hard working woman. However, she was able to be influenced by Tom when he was putting some of the crops he had harvested into Lucy’s basket within the first few days of working for Legree. Cassy began to do the same after Tom had convinced her that it would do Lucy good to receive some help from them. Cassy contributed to Lucy’s basket while still being able to fill her own so she was not being punished for not fulfilling her day’s worth of work. The soft side of Cassy begins to come out after Tom has been given a large number of lashes from Quimbo and Sambo, Legree’s slave drivers. She brings him water and cares for his open wounds, and this simple act of kindness shows a glimpse of her true heart. If she had not cared for Tom he would have died due to infection or too much loss of blood. Her simple acts of compassion, just like those of any …show more content…
Calling slavery a curse is digging deep into his heart because he himself owned slaves until he saw what slavery had done to Tom. By vowing to buy his slave’s freedom and to pay them, George showed his deep hatred for slavery in general while he had owned slaves for a long time. The underlying theme is supported in this quote because of the strong use of language in “curse” which portrays deep hatred. By buying the freedom of his slaves, George made a promise to pay them for their services and not treat them as an inferior