Literary Analysis

Throughout the reading of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, dehumanization initiates the argument on why slavery is unacceptable and should come to an end. Many of the characters in the novel were treated poorly at some point in their lives. No matter how nice some of the slave owners were, in the end, something bad almost always ended up happening to the slaves. Proving that the whole system of slavery never lead to anything positive, which was the point that Stowe was ultimately trying to get across.

One of the examples of dehumanization in Uncle Tom’s Cabin took place after George Harris was hired out to a bagging factory. George had become one of the first hands and invented the machine for cleaning hemp. After word had got out of George creating such the machine, “All these superior qualifications were subject to the control of a vulgar, narrow-minded, tyrannical master” (Stowe, 11). His master felt inferior towards George and didn’t like the idea of his slave “holding up his head among gentlemen” (Stowe, 11). Mr. Harris ended up demanding George’s wages and declared that he was going to take him home. He put a stop to the factory job and returned George to a life of hoeing and digging. He also restricted George from seeing his family on a normal basis. This portrays the theme of dehumanization because it took away George's right to a rather normal life, including the little bit of freedom he had while working at this job. It also took away his right to see his family on a regular basis, if at all.

Another obvious example of dehumanization in the novel is when Tom was beaten practically to death for not abiding by what Master Legree wanted. After Cassy and Emmeline escape, Legree was unable to take his wrath out on them and directed his anger towards Tom. He suspected that Tom knew something about the girl’s escape and after Tom’s refusal to speak about the subject he went mad trying to get information from him. The book stated, “‘Well Tom!’ said Legree, walking up, and seizing him grimly by the collar of his coat, and speaking through his teeth, in a paroxysm of determined rage, ‘do you know I’ve made up my mind to KILL you’” (Stowe, 375). Tom, the religious man that he had come to be told Legree that he’d rather die than tell him any information he may have known, which made Legree’s temper flare-up even more. He ended up beating poor Tom through the night and then ordered Sambo and Quimbo to continue the beating. Tom remained righteous through the end and hoped for salvation. This depicts dehumanization because it was restricting Tom from living free from cruel and unusual punishment.

There are many other examples of dehumanization that are prevalent throughout the book. A few of these examples include how Topsy was treated throughout her life, how Prue had to watch the only child she was able to grow a bond with die in her arms, and how Cassy lived the majority of her life as a sex slave.

By writing this novel, Stowe made a significant contribution to history and proved her point on why slavery was a terrible part of society. She demonstrated that nothing good could ever come out of such a horrible thing. I also found that my claim about the novel's theme of dehumanization is supported by more than just the quotes I analyzed in the book. Many of the reader's reviews I read for this assignment supports the idea that the book overall did a great job initiating the argument on why slavery is unacceptable and should come to an end. Most of the criticism on pages 532-595 also supported the idea that Stowe showcased the theme of dehumanization in several parts of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.