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Uncle Tom's Cabin Research Paper

Decent Essays

Around the 1800s, slavery was big in America. Your race determines whether you are counted as a slave or slave owner. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a novel that the main focus is slavery. In the novel, Harriet shows us many different kinds of slaves and slave owners. By her showing us this we get to understand one of the themes more. One of the themes in Uncle Tom’s Cabin is no matter what kind of master you have you still deserve to be free. Stowe shows us a “humane slave owner” in the beginning of the novel whose name is Mr. Shelby and how he affects two slave’s lives. “ ‘It’s done!’ said Mr. Shelby…”(Stowe 36). This is the part of the novel that Mr. Shelby sells two of his slaves, Tom and Harry because he owes money to Haley, the trader. If Mr. Shelby were a humane man like he says he is then, he wouldn’t own slaves at all. Mr. Shelby gives Tom more freedom than any other slave he owns. He lets Tom run his errands for him on a daily basis. Imagine being the favorite slave of your master, and the next day you are just sold away because of selfish reasons. Harry was the child of Eliza, one of Mr. Shelby’s slaves; he was being sold along with Tom because they were the two best slaves that …show more content…

Clare and get the chance to finally be free but you still won’t make a run for it. “ ‘I won’t keep you…’ ”(Stowe 341). Uncle Tom gets the chance to be free and not be a slave anymore. Many slaves dream to be free and hope to get the same opportunity that Tom did, yet Tom decides to stay with St. Clare. Tom did this so he could help St. Clare clean his soul. He could’ve taken the chance to take off with his family like every slave would do. Because of the decision Tom decides to take, he didn’t get to be free like he hopes. He waits too long and St. Clare passes away. This shows how you could have a perfect master who you love and care for, but you also need to be free and make decisions for

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