Uncle Tom's Cabin, was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
You can buy this book in hard cover, paper back or an audio cassette. I have the paperback copy, and I paid $10.00 CAD, for it.
The book was first printed in 1852. The first publisher is not known.
The book I bought was published was the Modern Library.
Including the index it has a little over 500 pages.
ISBN: 0679443657
This book takes place in the State of Kentucky.
The Characters:
Uncle Tom, is what the whites thought a black man would look like.
Topsy, has crow braids, that are tied with pieces of string.
Sambo, is what the whites though all black boys looked like.
Little Eva, was so cute, that even her Master liked her.
Simon Legree, is the slave trader. He is a villain, who everyone who reads this book hates.
My review:
Harriet Beecher Stowe, lived during the 19th century, in the United States.
She hated that their were slaves in her country. At this time women couldn't vote or have any say in politics. That is why she decided to write this book.
She wrote about the slaves, to show the white people, that they were the same as them.
She writes about the slaves on three plantations, and even on the best one, their life was a living hell.
The book begins when Eliza, (a slave), takes her son, goes to Uncle Tom's Cabin.
She was upset because she heard, her master and a slave trader talking, about selling Uncle Tom, (who was most loyal and reliable slaves on the plantation), for a huge amount of money.
The trader doesn't want to the deal because he doesn't believe that any slave is worth the amount of money.
When a slave boy comes in, (Eliza's son), he asks if he can buy both Uncle Tom, and that boy. The plantation owner agrees, and Eliza is very worried.
The plantation owner tells his wife that he sold their best slaves, she is not at all happy. She suggests they tell the trader that he had changed his mind and no longer needed to sell two slaves.
He tries to calm her down, and even tells her that she is wrong!
He assures her that even though Uncle Tom, is the best slave that they have on the whole plantation, he needs the money to pay off the debt he owns to the trader.
She tells him that he is taking Sambo, away from his mother.
He just acts as if he doesn't care and tells her once again that he needs the money.
That night Eliza, tells her son, that they are running away to Canada. When she tells him why, he agrees to go with her.
They had a few hours head start, before their escape was reported.
A search party is sent out to look for them. They are seen for a few minutes but then are lost again.
Who hid them?
Did they reach Canada?
Only the people who ran the ''unground railway'', and any one who reads this book, will know the answers.
What I thought when I was reading this book:
The horrors that these slaves went through, it's a miracle that any of them survived.
I cried a lot, what more can I say?
My Final Thoughts:
This book should be required reading in every school in the world.
Discrimination still exists. When I was in Japan, their was a brand of cigarettes called, ''Uncle Tom''.
When will we ever learn to respect and love one another?
You don't have to be a child to love this book. I highly recommend it.
Thanks for reading my review.
©LL2004
