Christianity in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Abstract : Uncle Tom's Cabin is a famous work written by Harriet Beecher Stowe， a nineteenth century American female writer. This thesis will mainly focus on the study the theme of this book ---Christianity and the effect of this pronounced religion sense. In this thesis， analysis from different angles will be made to reveal and illustrate Christianity in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Keywords : Christianity; character; plot;

preachy

1. Introduction

Many articles have been written to discuss the anti-slavery spirit or feminism in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Since many critics have said a lot about one of the theme of this novel--- Slavery， this thesis will mainly focus on the study of another theme of this book ---Christianity and the effect of this pronounced religion sense though Uncle Tom's Cabin. In the following accounts， analysis from different angles will be made to reveal and illustrate Christianity in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

2. Christianity ---The major theme of Uncle Tom's Cabin

Christianity， in Stowe's novel， rest on a principle of university love. If all people were to put this principle into practices， Stowe insists， it would be impossible for other people to oppress and enslave another. Thus， not only are Christianity and Slavery incompatible， but Christianity can actually be used to fight slavery. To endure a person， in Stowe's opinion， was to make a Christian of him or her. From the plots of this novel， we can find that the author pays attention on the religion influence. Now let's look at the analysis and illustration of these hidden explanations:

2.1 Christ's incarnation

Uncle Tom， the central character， is above all a Christian， he is obviously the Christ's incarnation with black skin， and his experience is quite similar to that of Jesus Christ.

(1) When Tom's first master， Mr. Shelby sells Tom to pay for the debts， he betrays his most loyal slave since boyhood. Jesus is sold by his apostle Judas who is prompted by his desire for money. So they are all betrayed and sold by the ones who are close to them. What's more， Tom struggles with his faith， as Jesus does in the last hours of his life when he says， \"my God， why have you forsaken me?\"

(2)Through the plot of the novel， Tom's distinctive characteristic is forgiveness， which is so unusual that it's almost divine; this is what we can see in Jesus Christ. Jesus forgives those who treat him cruelly for he prays， \"Father， forgive them， for they know not what they do\".(MARK 12:36). Also in the novel， Tom forgives everyone who have treat him badly before.

Besides the above examples， we could find more through reading the novel.

2.2 Christian love

Christian love， in Stowe's opinion， is a principle of university love. Through the plots of the novel; we can find that Christian love is stronger all through the novel. One example from the novel can reveal this hidden explanation.

Eva， one of the central characters of the novel， the name \"Evangeline\" definitely promotes the idea and image of angel. She always dressed in white， resembles an earthly angel-beautiful. While in spirit， she is full of love， like a good guardian angel. Once her father asks her which way she likes best-to live as they do at her uncle's up in Vermont， or to have a house full of servants， as they do. Eva answers that their way is the pleasantest because \"it makes so many more people round you to love\". The reason she asks her Papa to buy Tom is \"to make him happy\". When she hears the story of Prue， she doesn't want to go out in her new carriage again for the terrible story \"sink(s) into her heart\". The love and goodness of which she constantly speaks influences those around her， convincing people to their inner value and that of the people around them. Eva even managers to convince the impish slave girl Topsy that she deserves to be loved and Eva touched the heart of her stern aunt， Miss Ophelia. In CharterXXVI when Eva is dying， she asks that all the slaves surround her beside， where she gives each of them a golden lock of hair and tells them they must Christian so that they can see each other in heaven. \"If you love me， you must …I want you to remember that there is a beautiful world， where Jesus is. I am going there， and you can go there…You must be Christians… If you want to be Christian， Jesus will help you. You must pray to him; you must read-\". Just as her name \"Evangeline\" suggests， she is an evangelist to everyone， full of Christian love.

From Eva， this example， Stowe has portrayed the Christian love， in the novel， there also other examples.

2.3 Christ's death

As to the Christ's death， this novel presents Tom and Eva these two major characters of a sacrificial death linked to Christ's. The two most morally perfect characters in the novel， both die in the atmospheres of charged religious belief， and both die， in a sense， to achieve salvation for others. Both Tom and Eva are explicitly compared to Christ: Ophelia says that Eva resembles Jesus， and the narrator depicts Tom carrying his cross behind Jesus.

The above analysis of Christ's incarnation， Christian love and Christ's death are all linked to Christianity， they are all described in Uncle Tom's Cabin， through not too clearly

These motifs of Christ-like enable Stowe to underscore her basic point about Christian goodness while holding up models of moral perfection for her readers to emulate.

3. Conclusion

In the world there has one kind of sunflower which can never be planted， that is Fangao's sunflower; and in the world there has a cabin which can never be made， that is Uncle Tom's Cabin. Uncle Tom's Cabin was first of all a popular book， effective because people identified with its sympathetic characters and thrilled to its incidents. Readers of all ages and levels of education， male and female， made Uncle Tom's Cabin one of the most successful bestsellers to be published in the United States. As to the theme of Uncle Tom's Cabin， it is the conflict between the evil of slavery and the good of Christian love. It is a book soaked with spirit of Christianity. To sum up， Christianity played a very important role in Harriet Beecher Stowe's writing which unavoidably influenced greatly the portraiture of characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Reference

[1] Stowe， Harriet Beecher， Uncle Tom's

Cabin [M]. Hertfounshire: Wordsword Edition Limited Cumberland House， 1995.

[2] Sundquist， Evic J， New Essays on Uncle Tom's Cabin [M]. New York: Cambridge University Press， 1986.

[3] Holy Bible( New Revised Standard Version， Chinese Union Version)， Mark， Chapter 15 Verse， 34. China Christian Council.

[4] 虞建華， 20部美國小說名著評析[M].

上海: 上海外語教育出版社.

[5] 黃鐵池， 當(dāng)代美國小說研究[M]. 上海: 上海學(xué)林出版社，2006.

（作者單位：汕尾職業(yè)技術(shù)學(xué)院）