Uncle Tom Foil

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is about a slave named Uncle Tom and his travels and those around him. The book is called Uncle Tom’s Cabin because all of the former slaves that belonged to the Shelby’s should look at Uncle Tom’s cabin, and be reminded of their own freedom. Uncle Tom is the main character in the book, and reasonably straightforward. Tom is a devoutly religious Christian, and adheres firmly to his morals. Tom is a simpler, gentler, kinder, more honest person than almost all of the whites around him His main interest and goal are to generally become a better person, and to love everyone in the Christian way. His foil, Simon Legree, is a cruel slave owner who has made it his goal to break Tom. Other…show more content…
Shelby selling his slaves to Mr. Haley, a slave trader. George Shelby, Mr. Shelby’s son, plays with Uncle Tom and they are great friends. With some misgivings, he selects Uncle Tom and Harry, a young child, to sell so he can pay his debts. The rising action begins when Eliza, Harry’s mother, hears about the sale and runs away with her son. The plot then splits into two different directions, one following Eliza and her family, and the other following Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom is eventually bought by the St. Clare family because Tom saved Eva St. Clare, their five-year-old daughter, from drowning in the Mississippi River. Eva is a beautiful girl, who is pure and kind, and is an inspiration to all. Eva reads Uncle Tom his Bible, and she becomes extremely religious. Unfortunately, Eva soon becomes sick and dies. St. Clare promises to free all of his slaves because of Eva, but before he finalizes the papers, he is stabbed to death in a bar fight. St. Clare’s wife, who now controls all of the slaves, decides to sell all the slaves. Tom is sold to Simon Legree, and here begins the main conflict in the…show more content…
Even though Tom physically dies, and the rest of the slaves remain horribly oppressed, Tom is the real winner because he stays true to his values, even forgiving Legree and his overseers who beat him to death. Because Tom allows himself to die before surrendering his values, he becomes a martyr to be celebrated. Shortly before Tom actually dies, George Shelby comes to buy him. George arrives just as he is dying. George spends a few moments with his childhood friend before he dies. George soon returns back to his farm and sets his slaves free. Eliza reunites with the rest of her family in Canada, and they eventually move to Liberia. I would recommend the book because of its interesting storyline, but not because of any moral lessons or ideas that can be learned from this book. If I could change one thing in this book, it would be to follow only Uncle Tom’s story, and not Eliza’s escape and her story. The second storyline just throws more information at the reader, and potentially confuses the
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