About the author and brief content of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"

"Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly" (English: Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly), also translated as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin", It is an anti-slavery novel published by American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe (Mrs. Stowe) in 1852.

1. Introduction to the author

Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe (Mrs. Stowe) (1811-1896) was born in a pastoral family in the United States and worked as a teacher. She lived in Cincinnati for 18 years, where she experienced a period of escape, which laid the foundation for her novel. This novel was first serialized in the National Times in 1852. After being serialized, it immediately aroused strong repercussions and was widely recognized by people. At the same time, this novel was written in the United States in the 1850s, when Romanticism was flourishing. Its publication had a profound impact on the transition and development of American literature to realist literature.

2. Brief content

The entire book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is dominated by the same theme: the evil and immorality of slavery.

The novel begins with Kentucky farmer Arthur Shelby facing the prospect of losing his land due to debt. Although he and his wife (Emily Shelby) treated their slaves very kindly, Shelby decided to sell several slaves to slave traders to raise the funds he desperately needed.

There are two slaves sold: one is Uncle Tom, a middle-aged man with a wife and children; the other is Harry, the son of Emily's maid Eliza. Emily did not like the idea because she had promised her maid that her son would never be sold; and Emily's son George Shelby was unwilling to let Tom leave because he had taken Tom away. Consider yourself a mentor.

When Eliza overhears a conversation between the Shelbys about selling Tom and Harry, Eliza decides to run away with her son. The novel describes that Eliza made this decision not because of physical abuse, but out of fear of losing her only surviving child (she had lost two children through miscarriage). Eliza set out late at night, leaving a note of apology to her mistress.

While this was happening, Uncle Tom was sold and loaded onto a riverboat, sailing down the Mississippi River. While on the ship, Tom meets and takes care of a young white girl, Eva. When Eva fell into the river, it was Tom who saved her. To thank him, Eva's father, Augustine St. Clair, bought Tom from the slave traders and took Tom to his home in New Orleans. During this period, Tom and Eva became close as they both believed deeply in Christianity.

The eponymous character, Uncle Tom, was seen as a stoic Christian slave in the early days of the novel's publication. But in recent years, his name has become a nickname for African Americans accused of defecting to whites. However, Mrs. Stowe's original intention was to portray Tom as a "noble hero" and a figure worthy of praise. Throughout the work, Tom not only endured the pain of exploitation, but also persisted in his beliefs. In the end, even his enemies had to respect him.

Extended information

As soon as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published, people in the American South were angered by this novel. Supporters of slavery also severely criticized it.

Famous Southern novelist William Gilmore Simms claimed that Uncle Tom's Cabin was a completely false work, while others called it The novel is about crime and rumors. Amid the widespread reaction, a bookseller in Mobile, Ala., was forced to leave the city for selling the book, and Stowe herself received threatening letters (even one Mail containing a slave's ear). Soon after, many Southern writers like Sims were publishing their objections to Mrs. Stowe's novels.

Some critics emphasized that Stowe's lack of experience living in the South led (in their opinion) to an inaccurate depiction of the region. For example, they said, Mrs. Stowe had never set foot on a southern plantation. However, Mrs. Stowe also explained that the characters in her book were based on stories she heard from runaway slaves while living in Cincinnati, Ohio.

It is said: "Several incidents she personally observed inspired her to write this famous anti-slavery novel. She witnessed these scenes on the Ohio River, including seeing a couple being enslaved. In addition, records and reports in newspapers and magazines also provided material for the plot that was still being constructed at the time.”

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