Uncle Tom is a wonderful sketch for two reasons;The way Tom liberates his soul from his body, and lets them know they can maul and mutilate his body, but they cannot touch his soul, And then the way he refuses to stoop down to wickedness and incurs the wrath of his master Simon Legree. The Black man has been made to live such a mean and unhappy existence that he/she would commit any folly or wicked act only to win his master’s favor.
Tom subverts this practice and it is a glorious example of the power of sacrifice and nonviolence. Tom’s infinite capacity for love and his unwavering belief in prayer touch the soul of an agnostic like St. Clare and stoke a dormant religious fire in a man like Simon Legree. The novel is a composition of opposites, the White man against the Black, the Master and the Servant, freedom and bondage, luxury and deprivation. The novel’s premise is the author’s unswerving belief that slavery is unchristian and it unbecomes of a Nation that prays to and worships Christ. What causes pain is the fear of loss, the loss of property, comfort or even one’s life. Tom achieves an exalted state of understanding and detaches himself from all that is carnal and worldly. The small acts that he does to comfort his fellow slaves reveal his altruistic self. The novel’s context may not be totally relevant today but compassion and kindness have to overflow to combat the forces of violence and hatred is a message that the novel brings forth. (To be continued)