Uncle Tom's Cabin Book Talk

794 Words4 Pages

Alex Walker

Mrs.Saluan

3/16/16

5th-6th

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Book Talk

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The settings of the book are Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio and Canada. The book begins on a farm in Kentucky, with two white men sitting discussing a cruel sale of human life. The difference between the two men lies in their character. Arthur Shelby, a kind slaveholder, is discussing how he will pay off his debts by selling two of his slaves to Mr. Haley, a greedy slave buyer. Mr. Shelby decides to sell two of his finest slaves. One of which is Uncle Tom, who is a honest Christian man; and Harry, the young son of Mrs. Shelby’s maid Eliza. When Shelby tells his wife …show more content…

This takes place when Mr. Haley asks the other slaves what direction Eliza went in and they point to the opposite direction of the one she took. She evades capture by crossing the half-frozen Ohio River, which is the boundary separating Kentucky from the North. Haley then hires a slave hunter named Loker and his gang to bring Eliza and Harry back to Kentucky. Eliza and Harry journey to the Quaker settlement, where the Quakers agree to help transport them to safety. At the settlement they are joined by George, who happily reunites with his family for the trip to …show more content…

Clare and his cousin Ophelia discuss their feelings about slavery and prejudice against blacks. Ophelia opposes slavery as an institution but bears deep prejudices against blacks. St. Clare feels no hostility towards blacks but does nothing to end slavery because he feels that he can make no real difference.

After two years with the St. Clare family, Eva begins to grow ill and weak. In her last moments she asks that everyone convert to Christianity and has Ophelia cut curls from her hair to give to the slaves so they will have something to remember her by. When Eva dies Augustine promises Tom that he will free all the slaves but before this can happen he is stabbed in a bar brawl. In the wake of his death all the slaves are sent to the slave warehouse in order to be sold to new masters.

Tom is sold to a vicious plantation owner named Simon Legree. Tom is then taken to rural Louisiana with a group of new slaves. This includes Emmeline who is of mixed race which makes her more susceptible to being used as a sex slave. Which is exactly what Legree plans to do with her, replacing his previous sex slave Cassy. Legree hold hatred towards Tom after Tom refuses to whip a fellow slave as ordered. Tom is dealt a severe beating, and Legree makes it his goal to crush his faith in