ipl-logo

Dichotomy In Harriet Beecher Stowe's Black God, White Devil

894 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Modern criticism of Uncle Tom's Cabin

Black God, White Devil
The last four chapters of Uncle Tom’s Cabin included in the Norton Anthology compliment each other in a way that allows Stowe to present a modern and organic retelling of the moral struggle between the son of God and Satan. There are several divine and satanic figures scattered throughout the story, but it is only in chapters XXX, XXXI, XXXIV, and XL that the biblical dichotomy is explicitly reinvented by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The grand scenes that lead to the climax begin in chapter 30, when Stowe describes the ironic state of the exterior of the slave warehouse. Under the roof of the warehouse are the most villainous members of American society who subject the most vulnerable members to a cruel human slave trade. In Milton’s epic poem, “Paradise Lost”, Satan promises all the “forgotten” souls …show more content…

The most uninformed knew at most that the institution was “necessary” for the economic sustainability of the South. The most informed citizens who were not directly involved in the slave trade knew of its cruelty but never saw what occurred inside of the trade houses and on the plantations. In Chapter XXX, the narrator alludes to this in her description of the slave warehouse when she says, “in these days men have learned the art of sinning expertly and genteelly, so as not to shock the eyes and senses of respectable society” (Norton 867). Stowe concedes that not every member of the South is at fault for these continued atrocities. In fact, she argues that one of the main reasons slavery still exists is because slave traders have become experts in hiding the appalling parts of slavery and, in some cases, treat their slaves well. In this chapter, the warehouse is Hell on Earth masked by modest construction and a welcoming aesthetic. In this Hell on Earth, Tom meets the one person who will test his moral strength and devotion to God like never

Show More
Related
1160 Words | 5 Pages

The institution of slavery that existed in the United States before the Civil War is notorious for the abuse of African-American slaves. James Henry Hammond’s account on the slavery system of the South misrepresents the institution because it fails to acknowledge the callous treatment, negligence, and subjection of African-American slaves, which makes his argument biased. The omission of the slaves’ poor conditions allows for Hammond to embellish the institution of slavery with the false portrayal of generous slaveholders. James Henry Hammond states that slaveholders, including himself, “treat [their] slaves with proper kindness” because it is “necessary [in order] to…

Read More
148 Words | 1 Pages

Uncle Tom’s Cabin “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The book is about a man named Tom who works for plantation owner. His plantation owner orders him to whip a slave named Lucy but he refuses and gets punished. This novel deeply affected the feelings of the north and it greatly changed peoples views of slavery. Her book angered southern plantation owners who own slaves.

Read More
600 Words | 3 Pages

Also, slave trade was something the devil suggested Tom should do but, Tom believed it was too evil and he refused. Throughout the story, white establishment is criticized through satire by Tom and the Devil. Irving incorporates slave trade and killing of indians in the story and mocks the whites and faults them for

Read More
155 Words | 1 Pages

The narrative of Frederick Douglas breaks down the very mechanisms used to enslave African Americans; from the deprival of education to an over use and desensitization of violence. What also occurs: is the realization that slavery as a system is able to damage those who are in power and use slavery. Corrupting the morals and empathy of white Americans who come in contact with the societal structure of enslavement. The same cycle which keeps African Americans from breaking free also keeps slave owners on a continuous path of cruelty. As an industry slavery seeks to survive and to do so it must have full support and no opposition; by both parties being changed to fit their roles it is able to do so.

Read More
588 Words | 3 Pages

Friday October 20, the West Sioux Football Cheerleaders held their annual little Falcon Cheer Camp during halftime of the football game. There were girls in kindergarten through middle school who were encouraged to participate in the camp. The girls met after school on Wednesday and Friday till 5:15 learning all different kinds of cheers. It was a great way for the campers to interact with the football cheerleaders, and to learn many of the cheers that are done every Friday night. Kindergarten and First grade had participants.

Read More
730 Words | 3 Pages

Mr.Gore was an overseerer who had replaced Mr.Hopkins. Mr.Gore was “artful, “cruel”, and “obdurate” (329), and he would employ the “full exercise of all his powers” (329) on the slaves. Once, Mr.Gore had “tak[en] deadly aim [with a gun]... and in an instant poor Demby was no more” (331) because Demby, a slave, ran into a creek to save himself from Gore’s whipping. This created a “thril of horror through... the plantation” (331). Despite this terrible deed, “his horrid crime was not even submitted to judicial investigation” (331), This exemplifies that the incident had weakened the slaves’ mental state because the law did not support them.

Read More
219 Words | 1 Pages

Written in direct response to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, Stowe depicted slavery as a crime against home, family and Christian values, with slavery destroying familial relationships and morality among slaves. Additionally, it is depicted as the major threat to the homes of all American people, whether they dwell in the South or the North. Yet, in the modern era, Stowe’s antislavery argument has been viewed as an attack on “masculine” values, of individualism, competition and the economic marketplace, as well as more “feministic” values of community, love and domesticity. Additionally, rather than Tom being the model of Christian values, with his steadfast faith in God, the modern audience generally views Tom as a symbolic model of African-American

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

Read More
1636 Words | 7 Pages

Just Versus Unjust Violence: A Rhetorical Analysis of Violence in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom’s Cabin Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe present slavery in vastly distinct ways. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, author Frederick Douglass dives into a grisly world filled with bloodshed and in the middle of it a man willing to do what it takes to be educated and in control of his own person, narrated with the voice of reason. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, author Harriet Beecher Stowe depicts a variety of characters, their struggle with slavery and religion, their personal relationships, and their deep inner feelings, with no small degree of emotion and sentimentality. Douglass and Stowe’s use of

Read More
1642 Words | 7 Pages

From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.

Read More
1067 Words | 5 Pages

The level of education of the slaves on the plantation allow them to be manipulated by their masters. In many situations during the 1800s when slavery was prominent we can see that education holds power in society. Slave masters were educated and due to this, they were able to exert control over the slaves on the plantation. Douglass was self-educated and was able to analyze slave behavior and see slavery occur firsthand as a slave himself. In the book, we can see how the slave’s ignorance is actually bliss from the perspective of Douglass, how information like knowing how to read was withheld from the slaves and why and why slave-owners preferred non-educated slaves to educated ones.

Read More
457 Words | 2 Pages

According to chapter 10, Douglass says, “…He was only able to buy one slave; and, shocking as is the fact, he bought her, as he said, for a breeder” (Douglass, 45). Not only were women seen as an object of possession, but rather as an inhuman being, whose unwanted duty was to satisfy their master’s pleasures. Douglass thoroughly describes his introduction to another world and doesn’t hold back. His description of being introduced to “hell” demonstrates how the majority of America engaged in slavery.

Read More
1370 Words | 6 Pages

Within John Milton’s books “Paradise Lost” he creates Satan as the greater character over God. One who works through the individuals to create havoc. Satan is able to skew the minds of man to do what he wants with that individual and to counteract the word of God. A well known example was then Satan manipulated Eve to eat from the fruit of knowledge of Good and Evil. Though some critics may say that within Eve was Satan’s ultimate defeat others may say Satan’s evil soul is embedded in Adam and Eve, soon enough they are kicked from the palace of lush gardens, and everlasting life.

Read More
1153 Words | 5 Pages

The novel Uncle Tom's Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe depicts the reality of slavery while simultaneously pushing the idea to Christian audiences that they should show compassion and put an end to slavery. Stowe exercises the Christianity of the character Uncle Tom to strengthen the idea that acting as a Christian can abolish the institution of slavery itself. In addition, the destruction of slavery is narrated through the character George Harris who's a runaway slave. In particular, Stowe sets up the scene where Harris walks into a bar under the alias of Henry Butler passing in society with his "Spanish complexion" appearing equivalent to the Caucasian community (Stowe 151). However, Harris expressing to his former boss Mr. Wilson his

Read More
887 Words | 4 Pages

Although John Milton’s Paradise Lost remains to be a celebrated piece recounting the spiritual, moral, and cosmological origin of man’s existence, the imagery that Milton places within the novel remains heavily overlooked. The imagery, although initially difficult to recognize, embodies the plight and odyssey of Satan and the general essence of the novel, as the imagery unravels the consequences of temptation that the human soul faces in the descent from heaven into the secular realms. Though various forms of imagery exist within the piece, the contrast between light and dark imagery portrays this viewpoint accurately, but its interplay and intermingling with other imagery, specifically the contrasting imagery of height and depth as well as cold and warmth, remain to be strong points

Read More

More about Dichotomy In Harriet Beecher Stowe's Black God, White Devil

Related Topics

Open Document