Literary Analysis

During the semester, we read two books for class, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Beloved. I chose a theme that I thought played a large part of both of these novels and that theme is the topic of runaway slavery.  I feel that this topic is an important event in Uncle Tom’s Cabin and when it comes to Beloved, I don’t think the plot of the book would’ve been possible if it hadn’t been for the characters running away. In this blog post, I am going to compare the significance of this theme in both books and go into detail by using examples and quotes from the two.

I’ll start with Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Eliza’s (a slave who worked for the Shelby’s) husband George lives a horrible life. His master drowned his dog and tried to force George into marrying one of the slaves on his plantation and told him to leave his wife, Eliza, and child behind. His master also beats him and forces him into hard labor for doing a good job at work. “What business had his slave to be marching round the country, inventing machines, and holding up his head among gentlemen? He'd soon put a stop to it. He'd take him back, and put him to hoeing and digging, and ‘see if he'd step about so smart,’” (11). George can never do anything right by him. This constant beating and dehumanization leads George to want to run for Canada where he’d be free. Which leads me into my next example.

George’s wife had a different experience on her plantation, which was seemingly perfect for her and the other slaves. The Shelby’s gave them all the freedom they wanted, with the exception that they were still property and had to work. Tom and his wife had a cabin where they lived with their kids, they could make supper and do anything they wanted, Eliza was free to marry a slave from another plantation and have children. They couldn’t have asked for better masters. It wasn’t until a buyer comes along and convinces Mr. Shelby to sell little Harry, Eliza’s son, and Uncle Tom that makes Eliza want to run. She hurries and packs her things and is off in the night. She got the idea from her husband who was running to Canada. The thought of men taking away her child, leaving her with nothing, made her sick and she needed to escape. She also couldn’t stand the thought of Harry being sold to some horrible plantation that would work him until he was dead.

During this time period of the book, the Fugitive Slave Law was coming into play. This law allowed owners to cross state lines to pursue slaves that escaped. It put the constant fear of getting caught into the slaves’ minds. The Quakers and people like the Birds assisted runaways all the time just like they helped Eliza. Mrs. Bird even said to her husband who was a senator, “You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor, homeless, houseless creatures! It’s a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I’ll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance..” (72). So, as you can see, this theme is a large part of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Now, in the book Beloved is where I believe the theme of runaway slaves plays the largest role. The Foreword of the book states that the story is all based on a real life story of a slave woman, Margaret Garner, who had escaped and then got caught (17). When she was caught, she felt she had no other option that to try to kill her children to protect them from being taken back to the plantation and/or sold into slavery of a new master. Obviously, this book wouldn’t be the same if it hadn’t been based on this escaped woman.

For starters, the Sweet Home plantation was exactly that while the first owners were still in control. However, once Mr. Garner passed away and the Schoolteacher took over with his nephews, it went downhill. The men and Sethe were treated like property only. They were beaten, whipped, sexually abused. It was anything but sweet. The actions of the new masters lead the group to plan their first escape. This plan failed and caused one of the slaves their life. The sexual assault of a pregnant Sethe is what causes her to leave the second time. We as readers know that this lead her to leave. She was so shaken up by it, she still is, talking constantly about the day “those boys” stole her milk. In her second attempt, Sethe was successful, for a while. Schoolteacher, however, finds her after only a month and then she panics and tries to kill her children like I said before.

When Sethe had escaped, she took shelter at her mother in laws house in Ohio. This woman who we know as Baby Suggs, runs this place that is a shelter for all runaway slaves on their way to freedom. When reading this book, I could just tell that this whole story was based on my theme. Anyone who reads this book can tell you that the whole book is based on slaves who have escaped and are now living their free lives in Ohio.

I have given a few examples of how the running away of slaves is incorporated into these two books. I hope that other readers can see the significance as well.

Sources:

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage Books, 2004.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Ed. Elizabeth Ammons. New York: Norton, 2010. Print.