Uncle Tom\'s Cabin by Harriet

¶ … Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Specifically it will discuss some critics' reactions to Stowe's writing. Critics have called Stowe's writing "sentimental" and "spiritual" among other descriptors (Diller 21). Others have not been so kind. Clearly, writing changes throughout time. What readers and critics once considered stellar prose critics might now consider trite, sentimental, and even laughable drivel. That is not the case with Stowe's work. The writing might be old-fashioned, but the message and the underlying symbolism are still obvious. Her writing may not be in fashion today, but it still rings true with indignation and a sense of moral virtue.

One aspect of Stowe's work signaling her skill as a writer are the many different characters she creates throughout the novel. Some critics have called them "stereotypical," but in fact, she creates well-rounded people, making them compelling and authentic to the reader. If all the characters were one-dimensional and cut from the same cookie-cutter mold, there might be some truth to the critics' claims of stereotyping, but they are not. There are "good" and "bad" whites and blacks, and this shows a depth of preparation and an understanding of human nature.

Stowe often uses dialogue to help the reader understand her characters and their motives. In the first chapter she writes, "Why, I've got a friend that's 'going into this yer branch of the business, -- wants to buy up handsome boys to raise for the market. Fancy articles entirely, -- sell for waiters, and so on, to rich 'uns, that can pay for handsome 'uns'" (Stowe 6). This short passage indicates the crass disregard the slave trader has for his human "cargo," and begins to illustrate the treatment the blacks will endure at the hands of the whites. Later, she captures Eliza's suffering and terror perfectly, giving the reader another glimpse into the fear and despair permeating the slave's lives. She writes, "Her husband's suffering and dangers, and the danger of her child, all blended in her mind, with a confused and stunning sense of the risk she was running, in leaving the only home she had ever known, and cutting loose from the protection of a friend whom she loved and revered" (Stowe 61). When she is not utilizing dialogue, she uses vivid descriptions to make even minor characters jump from the page. Later she writes, "Great, tall, raw-boned Kentuckians, attired in hunting-shirts, and trailing their loose joints over a vast extent of territory" (Stowe 124). The rough men become real as they gather around the firelight, and that is because of Stowe's skill with characterization and description. Stowe's depiction and dialogue is vital to the book and the depth of the plot, and is one of the elements combined to create fine writing.

Stowe's reasons for writing this novel are abundantly clear. She was an ardent abolitionist and had witnessed great misery in the black community. She felt an immense need to bring it to the public and show them just a few of the cruelties and humiliation slaves endured. Newspapers and books were the only real media of the day to reach the people, and so, Stowe composed a book to make her own feelings on slavery apparent to the world.