Uncle Tom's Cabin, By Harriet Beecher Stowe

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Hate the sin, love the sinner,” in an attempt to have ubiquitous love and peace among different people. In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the theme of love is portrayed differently by different characters in the book. However, regarding the institution of slavery itself, the characters’ way of loving and amount of love are each polarizing. By human nature, it is expected that people generally have the love, support and respect of one another, no matter how they feel about any wrongdoings others may commit. Yet, Stowe’s novel was one of the pushing factors leading to the Civil War, one of the most divisive times in American history. Trying to push towards this protest against slavery, Stowe

For example, Prue, a slave of a household close to the St. Clare household was beaten to death after becoming non-functioning due to shock from her child’s death. Regarding the alcoholism that this emotional and mental torture had pushed her into, Prue says, “I can’t live no other ways,—drink and forget my misery” (243). In addition, Stowe also shows the stress of a family’s separation through Eliza Harris and her son. Upon learning that her slaveowner was planning to sell her son to a slave trader, Eliza’s immediate action to run with him portrays the horrors that the institution of slavery could ultimately lead to. However, Stowe makes sure to contrast

For example, Eva says, “O Topsy, poor child, I love you!” with “a sudden burst of feeling, and laying her little thin, white hand on Topsy’s shoulder” (321). Despite the fact that her mother, Marie St. Clare, feels neither love nor compassion for any of the slaves, Eva makes sure to still love her and appreciate her. Her actions and her love were also vast enough to show how she influenced characters such as Miss Ophelia and Topsy into lives of genuine caring and Christianity. This shows how her love overcomes the stigma and consequences of