Personal Response 3

A Hateful Concept:

It can be easy to hate someone or something, but then in the end, the hate does not make you feel very good does it? There were a couple of racist, hateful people in the book that I just could not comprehend fully of their thinking process or the hate that they feel towards African-American slaves. For instance, there is Marie St. Clare, who grew up her whole life in a rich Southern family and was brought up among slaves. She is described as uncaring, selfish, and someone who has no empathy at all towards black people. Marie only cares about her self and her "ailments". Marie even said so herself that she thought of slaves as "provoking, stupid, careless, unreasonable, childish, ungrateful set of wretches they are" (191). Marie does not believe one bit that black people are equal to white people at all and even though she goes to church on a regular Sunday basis, she does not think that "the Lord made them of one blood" (191) to white people. "A pretty story, truly!" she says, "They are a degraded race" (191). There is also Uncle Tom's third master, Simon Legree, who is by far the most evil, ruthless, and hateful man I ever met in literature. His whole manner and disgust towards black slaves and their "Methodist ways" was truly despicable! It is apparent that he is an atheist: "Humph! pious, to be sure'...'Well, I'll soon have that out of you. I have none o' yer bawling, praying, singing niggers on my place; so remember...I'm your church now! You understand,-you've got to be as I say'" (362). This clashes with Tom who is a devoted Christian, which makes Legree furious and hates him for that. Legree beaten Tom when he refused to obey his order of whipping another slave. He says, "... did n't you never hear, out of yer Bible, 'Servants, obey your master'? An't I your master? Did n't I pay down twelve hundred dollars, cash, for all there is inside yer old cussed black shell? An't yer mine, now, body, and soul?" (382). Tom simply replies that is own soul is belongs to himself and that will never change. This angered Legree more and he continued to beat Tom until he was black and blue all over. He was so determined to break his slave, but Tom, even to his deathbed, was always unbreakable because he had so much love for his friends and enemies and faith for the Almighty God.
As of now, I am shaking my head as I am trying to wrap my mind around their blinding hate towards slaves, and I do not think I will ever understand it. They are so desensitized from it all; they have been raised to think that black people are only property and that they should be treated cruelly all the time. They think along the line that they are not actual people who can feel emotion. How dare they think that! It is apparent in slave auctions as families are torn apart that they can feel emotion. It is like they refuse to understand that black people are really not that different from white people. They are all still human, regardless of skin color or class system.
It is a shame that Marie and Legree have so much hate in their heart. It blinds them from what is morally right and wrong. From where I am standing, it is easy to hate people like that and be disgusted by their way of thinking. But in another sense, I fell pity for them, for never knowing what it is like to feel pure love and have it come from the heart.