汤姆叔叔的小屋英文读书报告

2021年1月25日发(作者：袜)
Pursuit of Freedom in
Uncle Tom
’
s Cabin
Introduction
Uncle
Tom
’
s
cabin
is
a
novel
by
the
American
female
novelist
Harriet
Beecher
Stowe
published
in
1852.
In
this
novel,
Mrs.
Stowe
criticized
the
slavery
and
expressed
the
compassion for the black slaves. Therefore, the novel had a great effect on Africa Americans
and slavery in the US, and it also influenced the Civil War
’
s breaking out to some degree so
that
the
President
Lincoln
called
the
author
“the

little
lady
who
started
the
big
war
”
.
Mrs.
Stowe, born in the State of Connecticut, was a teacher at
Hartford
Female
Academy
and
she was also a pious Christian. As a Christian, she regarded slavery inhumane.


A summary of the book
The story took place in the 1850s. Uncle Tom, an honest slave on the Shelby plantation,
is respected by his owners and all the slaves on this plantation. However, Tom has to be sold
because Mr. Shelby, the owner of the plantation, is deeply in debt to
a slaver called
Haley.

Along with Tom, a boy called Harry, the child of his wife's servant Eliza, is to be sold as well.

Though Tom is sorrowful, he still vows that he won
’
t run away. Because he knows if he did so,
his master would be caught in debt so deeply that he would have to sell all the slaves.
Just before Tom is taken away, Mrs. Shelby promises him that she will buy him back as
soon as she can gather the funds. Eventually Tom was sold to a kindly master named Mr. St.
Clare.

Eliza, however, cannot bear to part with her son and escapes the night before he is to be
taken from her. She escapes successfully and reaches a Quaker village where she is reunited
with her husband George, who has also escaped from his master
’
s plantation. They spend a
night in the family and set off to Canada. Though there are slave hunters hunting them and
George also has a firefight with these hunters, they arrived in Canada successfully at last.
Tom befriends his new master and especially his young daughter Eva, who shares Tom’s
deep
religious
faith
and
devotion.
Unfortunately,
Eva
becomes
ill
and
is
going
to
die.
She
accepts the news peacefully and tells her family and their servants that she is happy knowing
that she is going to heaven, where such cruelty does not exist. St. Clare begins to confront the
realization that he believes slavery is evil, and he promises Tom that he will give him freedom
in the event of St. Clare’s death.

Shortly
after
Eva
dies,
her
father
dies
tragically
in
an
accident,
and
Tom's
fate
is
left
entirely in the hands of Mrs. St. Clare. She decides to move back to her parents' estate and to
sell all the slaves. Though she is asked to fulfill St. Clare's promise to give Tom his freedom,
she
refuses
and
Tom
ends
up
in
the
hands
of
Simon
Legree,
an
evil
plantation
owner.
He
forces his slaves to
work hard and replaces them when they inevitably
die just a few
years
later.
On
Legree's
plantation,
Tom
meets
two
slaves:
Emmeline
and
Cassy.
Emmeline
is
a
young mulatto woman sold to Legree at the same time as Tom, and she attempts to befriend
the Cassy, who has suffered at the hands of Legree for several years. Legree soon comes to
hate
Tom
after
Tom
refuses
to
beat
and
discipline
the
other
slaves.
Legree
planned
to
turn
Tom into an overseer, and when he realizes that Tom will not take it, he becomes angry and
takes
out
his
wrath
on
Tom.
Tom
becomes
discouraged
until
he
dreams
of
the
heaven
one
night. So he decides it is his mission to suffer for the other slaves and he tries his best to help
other slaves, which annoys Legree. And when Emmeline and Cassy escape, he demands that
Tom tell him everything he knows. Tom admits that he knew their plans to escape and their
whereabouts,
but
he
refuses
to
disclose
where
they
are.
Legree
beats
Tom
so
severely
that
after a few days, he dies.

Cassy and Emmeline eventually escape, and they happen to meet George Shelby, who is
rooming next to a woman named Madame de Thoux. Through conversation, it is discovered
that Eliza Harris is Cassy's daughter, and George Harris is Madame de Thoux's brother. Cassy
and Madame de Thoux journey together to Canada, where they are reunited with their family.
Madame de Thoux reveals that her husband has left her a large inheritance, and they all move
to France together. The family then moves to Africa, and Cassy's long-lost son, who has been
found, joins them finally and George Shelby gives all the servants on the Shelby farm their
freedom, and tells them to be Christians and to think of Tom.

Comments on the Book
From this novel, I learned more about the American social situation before the Civil war,
different opinions about the slavery, and people with different kinds of qualities.