Article #203-1 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Then, too, he was in a beautiful place, a consideration to which his
sensitive race was never indifferent; and he did enjoy with a quiet joy
the birds, the flowers, the fountains, the perfume, and light and
beauty of the court, the silken hangings, and pictures, and lustres,
and statuettes, and gilding, that made the parlors within a kind of
Aladdin’s palace to him.

If ever Africa shall show an elevated and cultivated race,—and come it
must, some time, her turn to figure in the great drama of human
improvement.—life will awake there with a gorgeousness and splendor of
which our cold western tribes faintly have conceived. In that far-off
mystic land of gold, and gems, and spices, and waving palms, and
wondrous flowers, and miraculous fertility, will awake new forms of
art, new styles of splendor; and the negro race, no longer despised and
trodden down, will, perhaps, show forth some of the latest and most
magnificent revelations of human life. Certainly they will, in their
gentleness, their lowly docility of heart, their aptitude to repose on
a superior mind and rest on a higher power, their childlike simplicity
of affection, and facility of forgiveness. In all these they will
exhibit the highest form of the peculiarly Christian life, and,
perhaps, as God chasteneth whom he loveth, he hath chosen poor Africa
in the furnace of affliction, to make her the highest and noblest in
that kingdom which he will set up, when every other kingdom has been
tried, and failed; for the first shall be last, and the last first.

Was this what Marie St. Clare was thinking of, as she stood, gorgeously
dressed, on the verandah, on Sunday morning, clasping a diamond
bracelet on her slender wrist? Most likely it was. Or, if it wasn’t
that, it was something else; for Marie patronized good things, and she
was going now, in full force,—diamonds, silk, and lace, and jewels, and
all,—to a fashionable church, to be very religious. Marie always made a
point to be very pious on Sundays. There she stood, so slender, so
elegant, so airy and undulating in all her motions, her lace scarf
enveloping her like a mist. She looked a graceful creature, and she
felt very good and very elegant indeed. Miss Ophelia stood at her side,
a perfect contrast. It was not that she had not as handsome a silk
dress and shawl, and as fine a pocket-handkerchief; but stiffness and
squareness, and bolt-uprightness, enveloped her with as indefinite yet
appreciable a presence as did grace her elegant neighbor; not the grace
of God, however,—that is quite another thing!

Explanation

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) is one of the most influential anti-slavery novels in American literature, playing a pivotal role in shaping public opinion before the Civil War. The excerpt provided contrasts the aesthetic and moral sensibilities of two characters—an unnamed enslaved person (likely Tom or another Black character) and Marie St. Clare, a wealthy, hypocritical Southern white woman—while embedding broader themes of racial uplift, Christian morality, and the contradictions of slavery. Below is a detailed breakdown of the passage, focusing on its textual nuances, themes, and literary techniques.

Context of the Excerpt

This passage occurs in the St. Clare household in New Orleans, where the enslaved Uncle Tom has been sold. The St. Clares are a wealthy, French-Creole family whose members exhibit varying attitudes toward slavery. Marie St. Clare, the matriarch, is vain, selfish, and superficially religious, while her husband, Augustine, is more morally conflicted. Miss Ophelia, a Northern cousin, represents rigid, judgmental abolitionism but is also bound by racial prejudices. The excerpt juxtaposes the spiritual and aesthetic potential of Black people with the moral emptiness of white slaveholders, particularly through Marie’s performative piety.

Themes

The Aesthetic and Spiritual Potential of the Black Race
- The opening lines describe an enslaved person’s appreciation of beauty—birds, flowers, fountains, and opulent interiors—suggesting a deep sensitivity to art and nature. Stowe frames this as inherent to "his sensitive race," challenging racist stereotypes of Black people as uncultured or intellectually inferior.
- The passage then shifts to a prophetic vision of Africa’s future, imagining a time when the continent will "show an elevated and cultivated race" with "gorgeousness and splendor." This reflects the 19th-century abolitionist belief in racial uplift—the idea that Black people, once freed from oppression, would achieve greatness. Stowe ties this to Christian eschatology (the "last shall be first"), suggesting divine justice will reverse historical injustices.
- The traits Stowe attributes to Black people—"gentleness," "docility," "childlike simplicity," and "facility of forgiveness"—are framed as Christian virtues, aligning them with the idealized suffering servant archetype (echoing biblical figures like Jesus). However, these traits also reflect paternalistic stereotypes of the time, which Stowe both critiques and inadvertently reinforces.
Hypocrisy of White Christianity
- Marie St. Clare embodies the moral bankruptcy of slaveholding society. Her "piety" is performative: she dresses in luxurious silks and diamonds to attend church, where she will "be very religious." The irony is biting—her outward elegance contrasts with her inward cruelty (she is later revealed to be neglectful and abusive toward her enslaved servants).
- The description of Marie as "graceful" is undercut by the narrator’s aside: "not the grace of God, however—that is quite another thing!" This distinguishes superficial charm from true spiritual grace, a central theme in the novel.
Contrast Between Appearance and Reality
- Marie’s "slender," "elegant," and "undulating" movements are set against Miss Ophelia’s "stiffness and squareness." While Marie’s grace is hollow, Ophelia’s rigidity—though morally upright—lacks the "grace of God" because it is unaccompanied by compassion (she struggles to accept Black people as equals).
- The opulence of the St. Clare home (an "Aladdin’s palace") masks the suffering of the enslaved. The beauty Tom appreciates is tainted by the system that imprisons him.
Divine Justice and Historical Redemption
- Stowe’s vision of Africa’s future reflects her belief in providential history—God’s plan for humanity, where the oppressed will ultimately triumph. The "furnace of affliction" metaphor (drawing from biblical imagery, e.g., Isaiah 48:10) suggests that suffering is a refining process leading to spiritual elevation.
- The line "the first shall be last, and the last first" (Matthew 20:16) reinforces the idea that the marginalized will inherit God’s kingdom, while the powerful (like Marie) will be humbled.

Literary Devices

Juxtaposition
- The passage contrasts:
  - The enslaved person’s authentic appreciation of beauty vs. Marie’s artificial elegance.
  - The future glory of Africa vs. the present decadence of American slavery.
  - Marie’s false grace vs. Ophelia’s moral stiffness (neither embodies true Christian grace).
Irony
- Dramatic Irony: The narrator’s description of Marie’s piety is undercut by the reader’s knowledge (or suspicion) that her religiosity is insincere.
- Situational Irony: The opulence Marie enjoys is built on slavery, yet she sees herself as morally superior.
Biblical Allusion
- The "furnace of affliction" and "first shall be last" are direct references to Scripture, framing the novel’s moral argument in Christian terms. Stowe uses these to appeal to her predominantly Christian audience, urging them to see abolition as a divine imperative.
Sensory Imagery
- The description of the courtyard ("birds, the flowers, the fountains, the perfume") immerses the reader in the beauty Tom perceives, making his enslavement more tragic—he is sensitive to beauty but denied freedom.
- Marie’s physical description ("lace scarf enveloping her like a mist") creates a visual contrast with Ophelia’s "bolt-uprightness," reinforcing their moral differences.
Prophetic Tone
- The shift to Africa’s future ("will awake new forms of art, new styles of splendor") adopts a visionary, almost apocalyptic tone, common in abolitionist rhetoric. Stowe positions herself as a moral prophet, foretelling justice.
Sarcasm
- The line "Was this what Marie St. Clare was thinking of..." is heavily sarcastic. The narrator mocks Marie’s self-absorption, implying that she is incapable of such profound thoughts.

Significance of the Passage

Abolitionist Argument
- Stowe uses aesthetic and spiritual language to counter pro-slavery arguments that Black people were inherently inferior. By emphasizing their capacity for beauty, art, and Christian virtue, she undermines racist pseudoscience of the time.
Critique of Performative Religion
- Marie’s hypocrisy exposes the complicity of the Church in slavery. Many Southern churches justified slavery biblically, and Stowe attacks this by showing how "pious" slaveholders like Marie use religion to mask cruelty.
Complexity of Racial Representation
- While progressive for its time, the passage reflects Stowe’s paternalistic view of Black people as inherently "childlike" and passive. Modern readers may critique her portrayal as reinforcing stereotypes, even as she advocates for their freedom.
- The vision of Africa’s future is both empowering (predicting Black excellence) and condescending (implying it will only come through suffering and white "guidance").
Literary Influence
- The novel’s sentimental and moralistic style was hugely influential, shaping later protest literature. The contrast between beauty and brutality here foreshadows techniques used by writers like Toni Morrison, who also explore the psychological and spiritual costs of slavery.

Textual Deep Dive: Key Lines Explained

"a kind of Aladdin’s palace to him"
- The reference to Aladdin (a tale of sudden wealth and magic) underscores how the opulence of the St. Clare home must seem magical to an enslaved person—but it’s a false paradise, built on exploitation.
"life will awake there with a gorgeousness and splendor of which our cold western tribes faintly have conceived"
- "Cold western tribes" likely refers to white Europeans/Americans, whom Stowe critiques as emotionally and spiritually stunted compared to the vibrant potential of African cultures.
"their childlike simplicity of affection, and facility of forgiveness"
- These traits align with the "Uncle Tom" stereotype—meek, forgiving, and non-threatening to white authority. While Stowe intends this as praise, it also reflects the limitations of her racial imagination.
"Marie always made a point to be very pious on Sundays"
- The word "point" suggests calculation—her piety is a social performance, not a genuine moral commitment.
"not the grace of God, however—that is quite another thing!"
- This abrupt interruption by the narrator breaks the fourth wall, directly addressing the reader to emphasize the difference between worldly and divine grace.

Conclusion

This excerpt encapsulates Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s central tensions: the beauty of Black culture and potential set against the ugliness of slavery, the hypocrisy of white Christianity, and the ambiguous representation of Black virtue. Stowe’s prose is rich with moral urgency, blending sentimental appeal with sharp social critique. While her vision of racial uplift is hopeful, it is also constrained by the racial attitudes of her time. The passage remains powerful for its impassioned plea for justice, even as it invites modern readers to grapple with its complexities.

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s depiction of the enslaved character’s appreciation of beauty serves primarily to:

A. underscore the moral bankruptcy of the St. Clare household by highlighting the contrast between aesthetic sensitivity and systemic oppression.
B. reinforce the stereotype of Black passivity by framing their engagement with art as a form of escapism from harsh realities.
C. suggest that aesthetic refinement is an innate racial trait, thereby essentializing cultural differences between Black and white characters.
D. subvert contemporary racial hierarchies by attributing a capacity for sophisticated artistic and spiritual experience to an enslaved person.
E. critique the excesses of Southern aristocracy by implying that even the enslaved recognize the vacuity of material wealth.

Question 2

The narrator’s question—"Was this what Marie St. Clare was thinking of..."—is best understood as:

A. a genuine inquiry into Marie’s psychological depth, inviting the reader to consider her hidden moral conflicts.
B. a rhetorical device that exposes Marie’s superficiality through biting sarcasm, underscoring her incapacity for profound reflection.
C. an attempt to humanize Marie by suggesting that, despite her flaws, she may occasionally contemplate the ethical implications of slavery.
D. a narrative feint to distract from the passage’s central focus on African cultural potential, redirecting attention to white characters.
E. an ironic juxtaposition of Marie’s vanity with the enslaved character’s spiritual depth, thereby elevating her as a tragic figure.

Question 3

The passage’s vision of Africa’s future "gorgeousness and splendor" is most fundamentally a:

A. romanticization of pre-colonial African civilizations, ignoring the complexities of historical exploitation.
B. prophecy grounded in Christian eschatology, positioning Black suffering as a prerequisite for divine redemption.
C. rejection of Western cultural dominance, advocating for an Afrocentric aesthetic as superior to European traditions.
D. literal prediction of post-emancipation artistic achievements, based on empirical observations of Black intellectual capacity.
E. strategic abolitionist argument that leverages contemporary racial stereotypes to appeal to white audiences’ moral and aesthetic sensibilities.

Question 4

The contrast between Marie’s "grace" and Miss Ophelia’s "stiffness" primarily serves to:

A. illustrate the moral limitations of both characters, revealing that neither embodies the "grace of God" despite their opposing demeanors.
B. highlight the hypocrisy of Northern abolitionists, who, like Ophelia, lack the compassion to effect real change.
C. emphasize the superiority of Southern femininity, framing Marie’s elegance as a cultural ideal undermined only by slavery.
D. suggest that physical bearing is an unreliable indicator of moral character, as both women’s exteriors mask deeper flaws.
E. foreshadow Ophelia’s eventual moral transformation, as her rigidity will give way to a more Christlike flexibility.

Question 5

The passage’s use of biblical allusion (e.g., "the first shall be last") is most effectively interpreted as:

A. a rhetorical strategy to align abolitionism with Christian doctrine, thereby pressuring religious readers to confront their complicity in slavery.
B. an attempt to universalize the Black experience by framing it within a familiar Western theological narrative.
C. a subtle critique of organized religion, implying that Scripture has been misused to justify oppression.
D. a literal prediction of divine intervention, suggesting that God will directly overthrow slaveholding societies.
E. an appeal to emotional sentimentality, leveraging familiar biblical tropes to elicit pity rather than political action.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The passage attributes to the enslaved character a refined sensitivity to beauty—birds, art, and architecture—that directly contradicts racist assumptions of the time, which denied Black people intellectual or aesthetic capacity. By framing this appreciation as innate to "his sensitive race," Stowe undermines the racial hierarchies that justified slavery, positioning Black people as capable of (and even superior in) spiritual and artistic experience. This is a subversive act in the context of 19th-century racial pseudoscience.