Personal Response 1

General Opinion of the Book:

One day, as I was casually looking through Mr. Mitchell's book shelf, searching for a book for an independent reading assignment that would perk my interest, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe caught my eyes. Even though it was not on the independent reading novel list, Mr. Mitchell gave me the go ahead to read it and do an independent assignment project on it.
I was very excited to read it at first. Of course, I have heard of this antislavery novel in history classes and how it was the book that "help start the Civil War", but I never read it before and I am glad that I finally read this historically famous piece of literature.
Uncle Tom's Cabin has so far been one of the best books I have ever read; it is now one of my favorites that I plan to get a copy of my own. Even though the text was pretty small and there were some long sentences, it did not sway me from wanting to give up reading the story. I was pulled into the story line, the characters, the plot, and the symbolic messages that left me both profound and thoughtful and, in a couple of incidences, in tears bawling my eyes out. Yes, it was a sad book, but sometimes, the books that make us the most sad, tend to be the most meaningful. And there were some happy moments too, to balance out the miseries and the dreadful life of slavery. Families were reunited after so many years of separation due to the slave system and families that ran away made it to freedom in Canada. I could not help but sigh with relief when George Harris, and his wife Eliza and son Harry made it to Canada to pursue the life of freedom and to be someone.
There were characters that I fell in love with, such as Uncle Tom himself. He was a slave who was the most faithful and loyal servant and Christian, who even though was separated from his family and suffered unspeakable cruelty from his third master, he never let hate penetrate his heart and it was his love and his preachings of the Lord that kept him strong and whole. And there was little Eva, the daughter of Tom's second master. Even though she was brought up where slavery was considered right, she thought it was wrong. She had the purest heart who loved her servants dearly and wanted them to be freed. Her love and innocence affected everyone around her and left a profound mark even after her passing.
This book really got down to the horrors of slavery and how morally wrong it was, and that is another reason why I love the book so much and why I think it should be in our English curriculum. This subject is one of the things I am passionate about. I think people wonder as they learn about African-American slavery and the Civil War era, what was it like to be a slave. Uncle Tom's Cabin can answer that question. It is a heart-wrenching book, but I think Stowe did a fantastic job.