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Uncle Toms Cabin Literary Analysis

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Brad Henry, a politician, once claimed that “Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” Henry means to say that someone with a family will be motivated to take action to improve their own situation for the sake of themselves and their family. In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe focuses on the idea of family, which was an evident theme in the aforementioned quote, and how the institution of slavery affects it. Stowe changes the point of view many times throughout her novel to show the reader under what circumstances she believes that one’s family can truly influence the actions of a character. In her novel, Stowe uses dialogue to maintain that family is only a motivator of action when there is a possibility of enslavement to criticize how slavery leads to the lost of family values. Stowe uses Eliza’s dialogue to illustrate the innate motivation she is hit with after receiving news that her son, Harry, is going to be sold to Mr.Haley. When Eliza stops off at Uncle Tom’s cabin, she says, “I’m a wicked girl to leave her so, but then, I can’t help it. She said, herself, one soul was worth more than the world; and this boy has a soul [...] It must be right, but if it ain’t right, the Lord forgive me, for I can’t help doing it!” (43) Even though Eliza is technically a slave owned by the Shelbys, their kind treatment towards her is reminiscent of …show more content…

By focusing on this theme of family in her novel and how slavery may alter it, Stowe qualifies Brad Henry’s quote that one’s family is what guides one on the path to a better

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