Katherine Bailey, "A Call to Action"
In a society where men were the public leaders and women were deemed as mere keepers of the house, many women of the nineteenth century sought to express their personal views in novel, innovative ways. Harriet Beecher Stowe used the outlet of a novel to express her political and religious views, in order to facilitate the change she desired. Regardless of growing up in a household consisting of mostly male preachers and even receiving a customarily male education, Stowe was still not allowed to preach publically, due to the customs of a separate sphere culture. Stowe, being encouraged by her family to write a novel discussing slavery, seized the opportunity to express her religious views and moral standings in a public arena. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was her finished product, a response to the newly issued Fugitive Slave Law. On almost every page of Uncle Tom’s Cabin can a moral standing, typological story, or religious belief be found. Stowe’s use of words and choice of subjects greatly resembles the language used and topics discussed from the pulpit; Stowe found a way to preach to an audience.
One of the major messages Stowe presents is the idea that Christians should not be passive, but rather act on their feelings of conviction and moral senses. She shows this especially through interactions with Augustine St. Clare, a slave owner in the South who was one of the few men to treat his slaves like his own family. Through conversations with his cousin, Ophelia, and slave, Tom, St. Clare’s feelings are revealed and his actions are often condemned. In theory, St. Clare knew slavery was wrong and detrimental to the humanity of both the slaves and those who own them. Though he knew these things, St. Clare’s feelings were not passionate enough. This is plainly seen in his unwillingness to act on his feelings. In a conversation with Ophelia, discussing the evil of slavery, Augustine St. Clare states,
“I became a piece of drift-wood, and have been floating and eddying about, ever since. Alfred scolds me, every time we meet; and he has the better of me, I grant, -- for he really does something; his life is a logical result of his opinions, and mine is a contemptible non-squitur…I find many men who, in their hearts, think of it just as I do” (197).
St. Clare realizes the hypocrisy of one thinking differently than how they acts. After coming to the point where he decides to give Tom his freedom, but not yet completing the mission, Augustine St. Clare unexpectedly dies. Stowe uses this unfortunate event to show the suddenness and volatility of life. We must act quickly, following our beliefs, as we do not know what lies ahead. If one is opposed to slavery or sees it as a sin, it is necessary that they do not tacitly consent to the institution. George Shelby, Tom’s original master, was a great example of Stowe’s desired reaction from the Christians reading the book. After being a witness of Tom’s dreadful death, the slave owner and close friend, cried out, “Oh, witness, that, from this hour, I will do what one man can to drive out this course of slavery from my land!” (356). The death of his good friend, mentor, and slave motivated George to act on his beliefs, as Stowe believed all Christians, who were fervent enough in their feelings, should do.
The story of George Shelby leads right in to another one of Stowe’s views that she has intertwined into her narrative. There are many places through the book where a person’s Christian example has led others to have a change of heart and turn to a morally improved lifestyle. The most significant and drastic illustration of this was when Tom, the chief character and moral guide of the book, had been beaten to his death by two black overseers. After being tortured for his unwillingness to commit evil for the sake of his master and his adherence of loyalty to two runaway slaves, Tom still proclaimed God’s goodness and faithfulness and believed He would deliver him. As Tom was being thrown the last few blows, he says, “I’d be willing to bar’ all I have, if it’ll only bring ye to Christ! O, Lord! Give me these two more souls, I pray!” (350). This typological, Christ-like act of forgiveness for those who were committing the torture lied so heavily on the hearts of Sambo and Quimbo, the black overseers, that they both became Christians. Stowe uses this story, among others, to show the example one person has on the lives of others. Tom not only impacted Sambo, Quimbo, and George Shelby; he influenced every man, woman, child, slave, and freeman he came in contact with. Because one person committed everything they had to a Man they had never seen, trusted in the proclamations of a mere book, and loved every person for the sake of moral right, a number of people were either converted to Christianity or had their beliefs strengthened. Evangeline, a young white girl who befriended every person she came in contact with, was also the cause of much change. Due to the wonderful life she lived and the sacrificial aspects of her death, Eva’s father was moved to free Tom, her aunt Ophelia resolved to treating her slave with respect and dignity, and her aunt’s slave Topsy gained a new determination to act rightly and honestly. Stowe used these key figures to show how the radical lives of a few normal, unexpectedly influential people impacted the masses, just as any reader could do the same.
There is as much of a message in Uncle Tom’s Cabin to the non-believers, as there is to the Christian audience. In the days before Eva’s death, she gathers together all the household members, including the slaves, and preaches to them about becoming Christians and saving their souls. She basically gives a shortened, evangelical sermon of salvation. She follows a hopeful passage about going to Heaven to be with Jesus with a brief list of how to become a Christian and what one’s duties will then be. She says, “If you want to go there, you must not live idle, careless, thoughtless lives. You must be Christians…If you want to be Christians, Jesus will help you. You must pray to him; you must read” (245). This bout of preaching is as much for the slaves in the narrative as it is for Stowe’s readers. If a non-believer wants to become a follower of Christ, they must pray to Him and transform their futile lifestyles. Just a short time later in the story, Stowe uses a conversation between a slave, Tom, and his master, Augustine St. Clare, as a means to reach out to those un-believers who still doubt and have questions. St. Clare does not understand the unfounded belief in a God that he cannot see. He complains, “I do look up; but the trouble is, I don’t see anything, when I do” (256) Realizing that this is a common hindrance for many people, Stowe uses this time for another character of the story to refute those doubts with his personal beliefs and experiences. Tom answers to St. Clare’s question about how he knows there is a God,
“Felt Him in my sol, Mas’r, -- feel Him now! O, Mas’r, when I was sold away from my old woman and the children, I was jest a’most broke up…and then the good Lord, he stood by me, and he says, ‘Fear not, Tom’…I know it couldn’t come from me, cause I ‘s a poor, complainin’cretur; it comes from the Lord; and I know He’s willin to do for Mas’r” (256)
Tom and St. Clare go on to discuss how Tom, without technical education, can believe without a doubt in the viability of scripture, how true belief runs deeper than knowledge. Though St. Clare was not moved to transformation by this account, Stowe used the entirety of this conversation, about the superiority of feelings over knowledge, disbelief over belief, and sensational reality over substantial reality, as a means to further explain Christianity and Stowe’s personal beliefs to those readers who remain skeptics.
Among the longer overtly Christian passages, Harriet Beecher Stowe incorporated brief, specific qualities she felt every Christian should boast. These included, compassion, patience, reading the Bible, acting out of kindness and love, being forgiving, and trusting in God. These qualities were exemplified in many Christian characters throughout the entirety of the book. Some of the topics and characteristics may not have been blatantly discussed, but Stowe expressed her views of the perfect Christian through the characters’ actions. Tom, no matter what harm came to him, no matter what trials he faced, would always trust in God’s promises and be extremely patient and forgiving (33, 173, 295). Stowe, contrary to all literature prior to and during this time, used a slave as a chief example of a Christian. She not only gave slaves psychic reality, but made one the prototype of right behavior. Through the entire story, Tom was arguably a perfect example of Christ. Evangeline also took on this same role, by showing kindness and love to every person, regardless of race or social standing. At one point, Eva and her cousin have a discussion on how to treat slaves. Her cousin finds it completely ridiculous for Eva to love a slave, yet Stowe gave her Christ’s ability to love another as herself (226). Mr. and Mrs. Bird, a senator and his wife, also exemplify what Stowe feels is a proper quality for Christians . Though it was against the law to help escaped slaves, the couple realized that the moral and religious law was to “feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate…” (68). This came directly from Christ’s teachings. There were many other examples through the book that showed Harriet Beecher Stowe’s personal beliefs of what a Christian should be like and how one should act.
Though there were many restrictions in the 19th century concerning women as preachers, Harriet Beecher Stowe took advantage of her publishing a book to advocate her religious views. She was a woman preacher. She gave many specifics about how Christians should act, feel, and believe. Firmly believing that true feelings would produce some sort of results, Stowe also gave reasons to put one’s beliefs in to actions, as well as to live as an example to others. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was effective in intertwining religion with everyday lives in order to illustrate true Christianity, resulting as a major instigator for the prohibition of slavery.
Works Cited
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Mincola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 2005.