The book Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852 by multiple publishers and put into more then twenty languages was written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe was born in 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut into a family of clergymen and therefore was highly religious. Her mother died early in her life so her oldest sister Catharine reared her. The family moved to Ohio when Harriet was twenty-one because her father received a presidency at a theological university. Harriet's sister Catherine started two schools; one was a primary school in Litchfield, the other a women's university in Ohio. Harriet attended the primary school and taught at the university in missionary studies. Her father would frequently speak out against slavery in public and she may have caught some of his abolitionist ideas, forming her own system of beliefs on slavery. While living in Ohio she took a short journey to Kentucky where she met Calvin Stowe, a minister and professor who also felt slavery was wrong. After a brief courtship they were married. Stowe thought herself lucky because Calvin encouraged her writing because Harriet sometimes earned money to supplement his income. Little did

As a piece of literature outside of its social and political context, I feel you do not have much to look at. The story itself is not very interesting (the high point is Cassy's escape plot), it's packed with religious dogma at every turn (It borders on Puritan age literature), and you don't see any character development except for maybe Augustine but he died too early after his conversion for you to gain any insight into his character. The book is also very old, using archaic words and phrases that were part of the time period that could lead too much confusing while reading. It has a recognizable plot but has many characters that can get confusing, such as the needless personas of Jim Seldon or Phineas Fletcher. Their places could have easily been taken by Simeon Halliday, the first Quaker to try and help Eliza. Also Stowe could have been clearer if she had not had two "Georges" as some of the main characters. The plot was not tell a story but to educate Christians on the evils of slavery, contrary to what many believe. This would explain for the large amounts of Stowe's views on god Christian values. In several ways the story in archetypal to the Bible with Uncle Tom as Christ, loving and forgiving to all no matter what they did to him. The way Legree wanted Tom to submit and no longer be beaten was similar to the time Christ was in the Desert and Satan tried to tempt. Also the way "Little Eva" called all the slaves to her deathbed and prayed for them was like the Last Supper. The grand purpose of this book was to nakedly expose the institution of slavery to America and the rest of the world with hopes that something would be done about it. To achieve this she showed us individual instances of slavery in a country that prided itself on its Christianity and its laws protecting freedom. She revealed to us how absurd slavery is "beneath the shadow of American laws and the shadow of the cross of Christ."

Uncle Tom's Cabin as a piece of literature was written to expose the evils of slavery and to spur all Christians to do battle with Satan, or in this case, the institution of human beings as property. To pull the happy covering off the ugly core of slavery, Stowe employed the use of several characters from both sides of the issue. To get her point across she would villainize pro slavery people and make victims of slavery to be loveable and pious. To demonstrate this I will summarize the major characters in the book. Uncle Tom is a kind old slave who is still very strong. He is a devout Christian and loves all people, black or white, no matter what they do to him. He will even pray for the souls of his masters before he goes to bed. On the Shelby plantation he is a spiritual leader to the other slaves. He is a good friend and pupil to young George Shelby. He is married to Aunt Chloe, an amazing cook and good mother to Tom's three children. He later befriends Little Eva and her father Augustine St. Claire. When sold to Simon Legree, Tom refuses to hate and fear Simon and is beaten to death because he would not give up his soul to Simon. Mr. Arthur Shelby is Tom's original owner who favors Tom over any other slave. He is the epitome of a southern gentleman and is kind to his slaves. Do not let this fool you however, he still considers himself better than any black man. Arthur unfortunately has many debts and must sell slaves to overcome them. He sadly chooses Tom to sell. Eventually he is also forced to sell Harry the young son of Eliza. Mrs. Emily Shelby is the wife of Arthur and is not very strong willed. Since she was a child she thought slavery was wrong but was raised to obey her husband and not question southern ideas. She owns and loves Eliza, her chambermaid. The only time she actually condemns slavery and her husband is when she discovers Arthur has sold Eliza's son Harry. When Eliza runs away, Emily is quietly jubilant. George Shelby is Arthur's oldest son and friend of Tom. When he grows to manhood he tr

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3007
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)