Uncle Tom's cabin is frequently criticized by people who have never read
the work, myself included. I decided I finally needed to read it and
judge it for myself. And I have to say, that for all its shortcomings
(and it does have them), it is really a remarkable book. The standout
characteristics of this book are the narrative drive (it's a very
exciting, hard to put down book), the vivid characters (I don't know
what other reviewers were reading, but I found the characters extremely
vivid and mostly believable - exceptions to follow), the sprawling
cast, the several completely different worlds that were masterfully
portrayed, and the strong female characters in the book. The portrayal
of slavery and its effects on families and on individuals is
gut-wrenching - when Uncle Tom has to leave his family, and when Eliza
may lose little Harry, one feels utterly desolate. As for flaws,
yes, Mrs. Stowe does sermonize a fair bit, and her sentences and
pronouncements can be smug. Yes, if you're not a Christian, you may
find all her Christian references a bit much. (But the majority of her
readers claimed to be Christian, and it was her appeal to the spirit of
Christ that was her most powerful tug at the emotions of her readers).
Yes, she still had some stereotypical views of African-Americans
(frankly, I think most people have stereotypical views of races other
than their own, they just don't state them as clearly today). But in
her time, she went far beyond the efforts of most of her contemporaries
to both see and portray her African-American brothers and sisters are
equal to her. The best way she did this was in her multi-dimensional
portrayal of her Negro characters -- they are, in fact, more believable
and more diverse than her white characters. Yes, at times her
portrayal of Little Eva and Uncle Tom is overdone at times -- they are a
little cardboard in places -- but both, Uncle Tom especially, are
overall believable, and very inspiring. The rest of the Negro
characters - George Harris, Eliza, Topsy, Cassie, Emmeline, Chloe, Jane
and Sara, Mammy, Alphonse, Prue, and others, span the whole spectrum
of humanity -- they are vivid and real.
The comments of a some readers that the book actually justifies slavery (because "it says it's no worse than capitalism") and that it shows that Christianity defends slavery are due to sloppy reading of the book. No one reading the book could possibly come to the conclusion that it does anything but condemn slavery in the strongest and most indubitable terms. This was the point of the book. The aside about capitalism was just that, an aside on the evils of capitalism. It did not and does not negate the attack on slavery. Secondly, another major point of the book is that TRUE Christianity does not and could not ever support slavery. Stowe points out the Biblical references used to claim that Christianity defended slavery merely to show how the Bible can be misused by those who wish to defend their own indefensible viewpoint. It's ridiculous to say that the book "shows that Christianity supported slavery". It shows that some misguided preachers abused certain Bible passages and ignored other ones to support their view of slavery.
There is an overlay of the tired "Victorian women's novel" to this piece - that must be granted. For literary perfection, it will never take its place beside Tolstoy, Dickens and Austen. But it is a piece entirely of its own category. Nothing before or after it has been anything like it, and it IS a great, if flawed, novel. I highly recommend it. I give it 5 stars despite its flaws because it's utterly unique, and its greatness is in some ways is related to its flaws.
Book review by Pietro R.
The comments of a some readers that the book actually justifies slavery (because "it says it's no worse than capitalism") and that it shows that Christianity defends slavery are due to sloppy reading of the book. No one reading the book could possibly come to the conclusion that it does anything but condemn slavery in the strongest and most indubitable terms. This was the point of the book. The aside about capitalism was just that, an aside on the evils of capitalism. It did not and does not negate the attack on slavery. Secondly, another major point of the book is that TRUE Christianity does not and could not ever support slavery. Stowe points out the Biblical references used to claim that Christianity defended slavery merely to show how the Bible can be misused by those who wish to defend their own indefensible viewpoint. It's ridiculous to say that the book "shows that Christianity supported slavery". It shows that some misguided preachers abused certain Bible passages and ignored other ones to support their view of slavery.
There is an overlay of the tired "Victorian women's novel" to this piece - that must be granted. For literary perfection, it will never take its place beside Tolstoy, Dickens and Austen. But it is a piece entirely of its own category. Nothing before or after it has been anything like it, and it IS a great, if flawed, novel. I highly recommend it. I give it 5 stars despite its flaws because it's utterly unique, and its greatness is in some ways is related to its flaws.
Book review by Pietro R.
