Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe) - A book that helped change the world

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have been wanting to read this book from the time I heard of it long ago. But I knew this would be a difficult read and never had the courage to pick it up. I started it a couple of weeks back and finally finished it late last night. I am still processing it - processing the fact that all that is described in the book is real and actual flesh and blood human beings were put through such hell by other humans for generations, and they still dared to call themselves 'civilized'.

They say literature mirrors society and that the pen is mightier than the sword. This book, published in 1852, proves both these adages correct. In its day, this book brought to the fore all that was unacknowledged by high society and showed a mirror to the entire country and added fire to the Abolitionist movement. To quote from the Introduction pages in the book:

"A sensation when it came out, Uncle Tom's Cabin emphasized on the evils of slavery and threw light on the tough and dark lives of the African American slaves. It revealed how slavery had affected the whole society. The book had a profound effect effect on the readers and is considered to have helped ignite the Civil War. Uncle Tom's Cabin stirred an opposition in the South where people responded with works which were later termed anti-Tom novels."

The American Civil War, under Abraham Lincoln, started in 1861. Beecher got an audience with Lincoln in 1862. She was greeted by the President with the words "So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war". Beecher Stowe continues to remain an important figure in world literature.

Uncle Tom's Cabin traces the life of slavery of a simple, honest to God gentle giant named Tom. He belongs to (yes - belongs to: as would horses and dogs and pigs) a kind master who has to sell him under financial duress but promises to try and buy him back as soon as he arranges the required funds and gets over the financial quagmire he is in. Tom has to leave his wife and children behind and get sold in a slave market where a small angelic child takes fancy to him and makes her father buy him. This master clearly realizes how abominable and disgusting the whole concept of slavery is. In an emotional moment, he assures Tom that he would free him in a few days but before he can fulfill his promise, he dies. Tom is once again sold as part of the estate liquidation and this time, he is bought by a man who is less human more beast. Tom's travails do not end as he refuses to participate in this new Master's cruelty and becomes the object of his hatred. Finally, tortured and beaten, he succumbs to death, refusing to give up his Christian principles to the end and embracing death as the final deliverance.

The book has other characters going through struggles of their own and the inhuman treatment as "slaves" in a barbaric system which refuses to even recognize them as human beings and treats them solely as property to be bought and sold, used and illtreated as the 'Master' pleases. There is George, his wife Eliza and a child, who run away from their 'Masters' rather than being separated and sold, are helped by Quakers, chased by bounty hunters and finally reach Canada where they are free. Then there is the beautiful child Eva who, belying her years, has a humane, deeper understanding and empathy for her fellow humans, whatever colour they may be. There is also Augustine St Clare, one of Tom's Masters, who throws truth bombs and doesn't mince his words while describing the extremely revolting slave system on which the whole of the South prospers and the North turns a blind eye to. Personally I quite liked him, for his irreverent take on things and for calling a spade a spade. Beecher uses this character to say things as they are, and for calling out the sanctimonious bull sh** that was peddled to justify slavery. Sample this:

" If I was to say anything on this slavery matter, I would say out, fair and square, 'We're in for it, we've got 'em and mean to keep 'em - its for our convenience and our interest,' for that is the long and short of it - that's just the whole of what all this sanctified stuff amounts to, after all".

If I were to look at it dispassionately as just a book, any book, and not let myself reflect on the disgust I repeatedly felt while turning its pages, I would put it as an above average but tough read. The toughness comes from both the story line and the language it is written in. Given this was published in 1856, the usage of phrases and the sentences is complex and long winded. It uses the language used by the black population of the time and that takes some getting used to. The story line is gripping with each character being important and everything falling into place eventually much like books by Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy. The descriptions are vivid and the characters are varied and with interesting back stories. 

Reading the book was tough and writing about it is not easy either. All I can say is that it is important to read this book to remind ourselves of the thin veneer of respectability and humanity we have. It is not so long ago that parts of the world had the courage to call themselves the civilized world while having barbaric practices that were backed by law and had the full might of the govt behind them. It is not even that this was an isolated occurrence or an aberration in the scheme of things. The world over, humans have "othered" people on whatever basis was available - either race, religion, caste, sexual orientation, anything that can reduce the humanity of the "other" and make it perfectly legal or socially sanctioned to treat them worse than animals. Sadly, there seems to be no end to this in sight and we never seem to learn from history.