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A Reaction to Uncle Toms Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was one of the most influential yet controversial books of her time and the same holds true for today. Slavery in the United States continuously brings up strong beliefs and heated disscussions. Stowe used her novel to express her opinions of slavery and the African American race, and her views were way ahead of her time. She depicts both the unending kindness and the horrible cruelty of human beings. The novel draws the reader in and enables him/her to see the harsh realities of life. Many important themes appear throughout the novel, but the one that prevails is the effectiveness of the Bible and the hope that it stands for. All through the novel, Uncle Tom kept his Bible by his side during life's struggles. Incredibly, specific verses from the Bible had profound effects on many characters and Tom's use of the Bible verses deeply touched Eva and St. Clare during death, Legree's slaves during hardship, and Tom himself during life.
Uncle Tom and the Bible provided great insight and meaning to the lives of both Eva and Augustine St. Clare. As Eva's time on earth faded, she sat with time and read from the Bible. When Tom sang about angels and bright lights, Eva said she had seen them; when they talked about heaven, Eva claimed she was going there. Eva would read the Bible to Uncle Tom and he would explain what it meant. Miss Ophelia even said that Tom was a hero to Eva. As she became physically weaker, her spirit grew more divine. During Eva's last days on earth, she reached out with love to those around her and tried to help them see the light that was so clear to her. "I can understand why Jesus wanted to die for us"(Stowe 274). Eva told Tom this because she had felt the same way and this deep, spiritual feeling came to her because of her faith. Through reading scripture and believing the words of the Bible, Eva accepted the fact that she would die and even welcomed it. Her only concerns were for those whom she would have to leave behind. The Bible effected both her life and her death and Tom helped her understand the meaning. St. Clare, another person Tom helped gain a greater understanding, struggled within himself in the novel. He knew his strengths and weaknesses and thought he would always be lazy. "I am one of the sort that lives by throwing stones at other people's glass houses, but I never mean to put up one for them to stone"(Stowe 181). St. Clare simply meant that he did not mind criticizing other people, but he would never do anything that allowed them to criticize him. St. Clare believed slavery to be morally wrong and that the church twisted the words of the Bible and he talked about his views often, but he never did anything about it. When Eva died, St. Clare started to read her Bible [next page]