All men are created equal, the immortal declaration was first used in the founding of this nation in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson. If all men are created equal, then why did people own slaves and treated them unequally? This is a question that Harriet Beecher Stowe had to ask in her novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. The novel has created foils between the novel’s more important characters. Like the novel’s central figure Uncle Tom , “the self-sacrificing slave who truly embodies the spirit of Christianity taught to him, but not practiced by his white father "masters” (Levernier)” who is a foil to Simon Legree, “the villainous embodiment of depravity who persists in tormenting and ultimately murdering Tom only because of Tom's goodness.” (Levernier). Two
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Topsy is described as “an undisciplined youngster about the age of Eva” (Adams). She is also a mischievous slave girl who is used to beatings and being called wicked. Topsy was a pain to Ophelia the woman entrusted to instruct and train her. This is because the treat her like an animal and she was always punished and called wicked and had gotten used to it. She was told by her previous masters that as a “nigger” she was inherently bad and not capable of being good. But when Eva, the angelic daughter of the St.Clare's’ interacts with Topsy she saves her from being whipped and then being sold again just by Eva’s simple affection. Instead of threatening her with physical punishment, Eva simply hugs Topsy and says, "Poor child, I love you!"(Stowe). Once Topsy realizes that she can be loved, and that someone believes in her, she begins the process of reform. The foils between the two shows that the belief that all slaves are bad and that justifies slavery is ridiculous because Eva was just nice and treated Topsy like a person slowly undoes all the mistreatment and changes her bad manner. Not only did the foil between Eva and Topsy convey the evils of slavery, but the foil between Augustine and Alfred St.Clare does …show more content…
Their religious views foil and it directly relates to morality “Christianity is linked in the novel to morality, humaneness, and generosity”(Gale). In relations to religion Tom as a faithful slave. His faith is describe as a “...powerful love of God raises them(Tom and Eva) to the stature of Christ in their capacity for love, forgiveness, and moral valor. They die like saints, ... and Tom being tortured and killed by those who are galled by his faith. (Gale) In contrast Simon Legree is “nonbeliever” probably because he is afraid of the afterlife which is hinted at in the novel “Ye who have wondered to hear, in that same evangel, that God is love, and that God is a consuming fire, see ye not how, to the soul resolved in evil, perfect love is the most fearful torture, the seal and sentence of the direst despair?”(Stowe). Simon Legree's complete lack of religious faith is connected to his depravity. The foils in faith lead to events in the novel that expresses evil of slavery. For example when shows kindness to the other slaves Simon is determined to break him by ordering him to beat Lucy. Tom refuses because of his faith and morals. To which angers Simon who beats Tom instead. Another example is through the death of Tom. When Legree asks Tom if he knew something about Cassy and Emmeline’s escape Tom refuses to tell Simon because again because of his morals. Saying that he would rather die than tell.
Topsy is described as “an undisciplined youngster about the age of Eva” (Adams). She is also a mischievous slave girl who is used to beatings and being called wicked. Topsy was a pain to Ophelia the woman entrusted to instruct and train her. This is because the treat her like an animal and she was always punished and called wicked and had gotten used to it. She was told by her previous masters that as a “nigger” she was inherently bad and not capable of being good. But when Eva, the angelic daughter of the St.Clare's’ interacts with Topsy she saves her from being whipped and then being sold again just by Eva’s simple affection. Instead of threatening her with physical punishment, Eva simply hugs Topsy and says, "Poor child, I love you!"(Stowe). Once Topsy realizes that she can be loved, and that someone believes in her, she begins the process of reform. The foils between the two shows that the belief that all slaves are bad and that justifies slavery is ridiculous because Eva was just nice and treated Topsy like a person slowly undoes all the mistreatment and changes her bad manner. Not only did the foil between Eva and Topsy convey the evils of slavery, but the foil between Augustine and Alfred St.Clare does …show more content…
Their religious views foil and it directly relates to morality “Christianity is linked in the novel to morality, humaneness, and generosity”(Gale). In relations to religion Tom as a faithful slave. His faith is describe as a “...powerful love of God raises them(Tom and Eva) to the stature of Christ in their capacity for love, forgiveness, and moral valor. They die like saints, ... and Tom being tortured and killed by those who are galled by his faith. (Gale) In contrast Simon Legree is “nonbeliever” probably because he is afraid of the afterlife which is hinted at in the novel “Ye who have wondered to hear, in that same evangel, that God is love, and that God is a consuming fire, see ye not how, to the soul resolved in evil, perfect love is the most fearful torture, the seal and sentence of the direst despair?”(Stowe). Simon Legree's complete lack of religious faith is connected to his depravity. The foils in faith lead to events in the novel that expresses evil of slavery. For example when shows kindness to the other slaves Simon is determined to break him by ordering him to beat Lucy. Tom refuses because of his faith and morals. To which angers Simon who beats Tom instead. Another example is through the death of Tom. When Legree asks Tom if he knew something about Cassy and Emmeline’s escape Tom refuses to tell Simon because again because of his morals. Saying that he would rather die than tell.