Humanity enslaved by the inhumane

That makes humans so different and stand out among all of God's other creations? Is it their appearance, their ability to speak or their higher cognitive capabilities? How are humans any different from a wild animal when they turn savage and harm other creatures willingly for their own benefit? Mankind has been enslaved by the whims of their cruelty and violence since their inception. The only difference is that the methods of executing such brutality have changed and refined over time. Thebest-selling 19th century novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe exploresman's inhumanity, opening a window to the tragic lives of African slavesin the Southern states of 1850s America.

The novel narrates the tragic tale of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave, around whom the stories of the other characters revolve. The sentimental novel portrays the reality of slavery while also emphasizing that Christian love can overcome something as heinous as human enslavement. It opens with two gentlemen,Mr. Arthur Shelby and Mr. Haley, a slave trader, discussing how many slaves Mr. Shelby must sell to clear his debt. After much trepidation, he agrees to sell Tom, his most faithful and honest slave, and Harry, the son of Mrs. Shelby's favorite slave, Eliza. 

Eliza luckily overhears the aforementioned exchange, prompting her to take her son and flee to Canada that very night. Earlier that day, her husband, George Harris, had shared his plan to leave his own master as well, so she hoped they will both  escape and reunite in Canada. Before Eliza takes off, she visits Uncle Tom's cabin to warn him and his family that he has been sold to Mr. Haley. Aunt Chloe, Tom's wife, urges him to run away to Canada too but he opts against it, as his master Shelby depends on his honesty. Mr. Haley chases Eliza, almost catching her but she escapes to Ohio by crossing a river on a piece of floating ice. Mr. Haley sends slave catchers after her and returns to collect Tom. Sometime later, Eliza's husband discovers Eliza is headed for Canada and sets out to find her. They reunite under the shelter of a kind Quaker family and prepare for the journey towards their liberation.

On a Mississippi river boat, Tom meets a little white girl named Eva St. Clare, and is moved by her gravity. He rescues her from drowning. Eva's father,Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from Mr. Haley at Eva's request, and Tom accompanies Eva, her father, and cousin Ophelia to their New Orleans home. There he meets Eva's mother, Marie St. Clare, a typical slave owner who runs her slaves ragged as they try to satisfy her endless demands. Tom and young Eva form a close relationship. By reading to Tom from the Bible, Eva herself grows to understand and love Christianity. They discuss their mutual Christian faith on a daily basis.

St. Clare writes a letter to Tom's wife in Kentucky, informing her of Tom's whereabouts and well-being. St. Clare also buys a young slave girl called Topsy and "gives" her to Ophelia to raise. Eva then transforms the life of hardened young Topsy, and teaches her to be kind and how to read. Back in Kentucky, Aunt Chloe convinces Mrs. Shelby that she should be hired out to a confectionary baker in Louisville and her wages can be saved to buy Tom's freedom. Shelby's son, George, writes back to Tom with this news.

After two years, when it is apparent that young Eva is extremely ill and on the throes of death, she calls all the slaves together to give them a speech about God's love and her love for them. She gives each slave a lock of her blonde curls so they will remember her. As death approaches, Eva touches the hearts of all around her with her sweet Christian acceptance, and when she eventually dies, everyone mourns her. Tom's influence at this point brings St. Clare almost to belief in Christ, and the man promises Tom his freedom, signs Topsy over to Ophelia legally, and begins to make provisions to protect all his slaves from sale should something happen to him. However, before St. Clare could finish all the paper work, he is killed in a bar-room brawl and his wife auctions off most of his slaves, including Tom.

Tom's new owner is Simon Legree, aruthless man who works his slaves to death, then buys new ones cheaply in a never-ending cycle. He is a plantation owner, who also bought two women slaves: one intended as the sexslave of Legree's black overseer Sambo, the other was 15-year-old Emmeline for Legree himself. They are taken to the man's run-down plantation among the swamps. Tom is set to picking cotton, and he tries to make the best of his position by prayer and hope. He meets Cassy, Legree's black concubine, and learns her horrifying story. Tom is whipped mercilessly for attempting to help his fellow slaves and Legree vows to break his spirit or kill him. Cassy does her best to use her influence to save Uncle Tom.

When Tom aids Cassy and Emmeline to escape, Legree beats Tom to death as he refuses to inform where they fled. It takes a few days for him to die, though, and in the meantime, his old master's son, George Shelby, arrives to emancipate his dear Uncle Tom, but unfortunately it is too late. Master George arrives in Tom's shed just in time to speak to"Uncle Tom, my poor, poor old friend!" one last time, a heart-breaking moment, where the reader is sure to weep in grief for the poor honest man.

Uncle Tom's last words to George is certainly the most moving and tragic part of the story, where he says, "Ye mustn't, now, tell Chloe, poor soul! How ye found me;—'t would be so drefful to her. Only tell her ye found me going into glory; and that I couldn't stay for no one. And tell her the Lord stood by me everywhere and al'ays, and made everything light and easy… I loves every creature everywhar!—it's nothing but love! O, Mas'r George! What a thing't is to be a Christian!" These last words of a dying slave are touching, inspiring faith in God and pursuit of an honest life. 

Later, disheartened, George Shelby buries Tom and returns home. On his way back, he runs into Cassy and Emmeline, the two escaping slave girls, on the same ship travelling north. When Cassy realizes George is sympathetic towards the escaping slaves, she shares her story to him. Another lady on the boat reveals that she is George Harris's sister, and Cassy recognizes that George's wife Eliza is her own daughter. The two, with Emmeline, go to Canada and find George, Eliza, and their children; they all eventually go to France, return, and plan to settle in Liberia. Meanwhile, George Shelby returns to his farm, and breaks the news of Tom's death to Chloe, and frees all his slaves, telling them to remember that they owe their freedom toUncle Tom. Although Tom's life ended in tragedy, there is much happiness among these slaves who survived and escaped the trials and tribulations of slavery, either through emancipation or by fleeing to Canada.

This anti-slavery novel published in 1852 is believed to have helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War. Even though slavery might be abolished from society today, people still continue to abuse the innocent. Cruelty of one man to another is still prominent in today's society. Lives are lost everyday to sexual abuse, bombs and massacres.This novel makes readers question humanity and asks them to stand up against abuse.

The reviewer is a major in English literature from Independent University Bangladesh (IUB).