Uncle Tom's Cabin: Stowe's Paradoxical Christian Message
Perhaps the greatest criticism levied against Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is that it comprises of nothing more than Victorian sentimentality, and that the death of its two moral exemplars, Tom and Little Eva, do little which actually remedies the injustices of slavery. Critic Ann Douglas sees the novel as emblematic of the "feminization of American culture," which in religious terms figures as "a move away from the morally forceful Calvinism to the sloppiness of the humanistic cult of gentle Jesus" (Rachel Bowlby's paraphrase, 205). In order to recoup the novel from such charges, critics such as Jane Tompkins have attempted to demonstrate that the novel's coupling of sentimentality and Christianity results in far more than a luxuriating in lachrymose emotions. For Tompkins, the force behind the novel's sentimental Christianity is its subversion of the power hierarchy. Incidents like the deaths of Tom and Little Eva enact a "theory of power" in which "the powerless die to save the powerful and corrupt, and thereby show themselves more powerful than those they save" (128). Thus, the traditional locus of power, is in effect, decentered, and religious faith gives marginalized figures like slaves, children, and women a power, to which in strictly secular terms, they have no access.
One problem with readings which stress the salvific function of the deaths of Tom and Little Eva is their failure to account for the novel's self-conscious acknowledgment of the social forces which constantly challenge the brand of Christianity which it advocates. The Christian message of Uncle Tom's Cabin is ultimately paradoxical. On the one hand, the examples of Tom and Little Eva demonstrate ...
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...f sustaining one's Christianity within the context of slavery, as well as the limitations of the individual's power to challenge such a large institution. George, in deferring his acceptance of Christianity until he reaches a place of freedom, ultimately comes closest to Stowe's agenda of establishing a true Christian nation, uncorrupted by slavery, on earth.
Works Cited:
Bowlby, Rachel. "Breakfast in America--Uncle Tom's Cultural Histories." Nation and Narration. Ed. Homi K. Bhabha. New York, NY: Routledge Press, 1990, 197-212.
O'Connel, Catherine E. "`The Magic of the Real Presence of Distress': Sentimentality and Competing Rhetorics of Authority." The Stowe Debate. Eds. Mason I. Lowance, Jr., Ellen E Westbrook, R.C. De Prospo. Amherst, MA: U. Massachusetts Press, 1994, 13-36.
Tompkins, Jane. Sensational Designs. New York, NY: Oxford U. Press, 1985.
Since the beginning of the United States the American people have been on the move. Public transportation has played a major role in the development of this nation and in bringing its citizens together. In the book “Divided Highways”, author Tom Lewis takes the reader on a journey of the building of the Interstates and the consequences(good and bad) that came from them. Lewis believes that the Interstates are a physical characteristic of America and that it shows “all our glory and our meanness; all our vision and our shortsightedness”(xiv).
Boarnet, Marlon G. "National Transportation Planning: Lessons from the U.S. Interstate Highways." National Transportation Planning: Lessons from the U.S. Interstate Highways. Elsevier Ltd., 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
While lying on her death bed, in Chapter 26 of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, little Eva says to the servants in her house who have gathered around her, "You must remember that each one of you can become angels" (418). In this chapter and the one before it, Eva has actively worked to make the people surrounding her into "angels," taken here to mean one who is saved by God. In chapters 33 and 34 of Stowe's book, Tom similarly works, though more quietly, to turn the other slaves at Simon Legree's plantation into "angels." Both of these scenes, and particularly the evangelical characters within them, reveal Stowe's Methodist theology, a theology that rejects the predestination of earlier American Christianity. In Stowe's theology "each one" of the people can be saved; God's love is universal. Original sin still exists, but now an individual is given control to escape this sin by embracing God's love. At the heart of the theology and the resultant morality that Tom and Eva evince, is a warm, knowable God, who is knowable through love, and the heart.
The white institution of Christianity has been forced upon Tom since childhood to make him believe in the Puritanical tenet that individual suffering in life, guarantees a good tidings in death. Tom has been taught to read the Bible and believes that God will be with him everywhere he goes, even after he has been sold and separated from Aunt Chloe and the rest of his family. “I’m in the Lord’s hands,” said Tom; “nothin’ can go no furder than he lets it;--and thar’s one thing I can thank him for. It’s me that’s sold and going down, and you nur the chil’en. Here you’re safe; ---what comes will come only on me; and the Lord, he’ll help me,--I know he will,” (Stowe 81)...
...ernment instituted the Federal Aid Highway Act 1976. This allotted $175 million to the processes of "for resurfacing, restoring, and rehabilitating those lanes on the Interstate System which have been in use for more than five years and which are not on toll roads." (-http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/intmaint.cfm) Initially set at a 90-10 rate of Federal to state funding, the projects were gradually moved to a more manageable 75-25 rate of funding. Known as 3R needs of the Interstate, resurfacing, restoring and rehabilitating. A fourth ‘R’ was added in 1981 with the introduction of reconstruction. Reconstruction was vitally important to improving those roads which had long ago fallen into disrepair. Bridges, tunnels, and the vast system itself were influenced heavily by the 1981 Act by allowing Federal funding to also remove and replace items where necessary.
"It is impossible to conceive of a human creature more wholly desolate and forlorn than Eliza, when she turned her footsteps from Uncle Tom's cabin. Her husband's suffering and dangers, and the danger of her child, all blended in her mind, with a confused and stunning sense of the risk she was running, in leaving the only home she had ever known, and cutting loose from the protection of a friend whom she loved and revered. "
Revenge is to inflict punishment for injury or an insult, but those that seek revenge end up hurting themselves according to Sir Francis Bacon. Bacon claims “This is certain, that a man consumed for a desire for revenge keeps his own wounds open which otherwise would heal”, Bacon believes that instead of people letting their hatred go they hold on to causing them to want to seek revenge more and well hurt themselves. A person seeking revenge may get even with the enemy, but also hurt themselves in the process. Keeping hatred inside and living in the past just wastes life away. Bacon’s ideas of revenge are expressed in Romeo and Juliet, The Interlopers, and the song Present Tense.
...lture. Most twenty-first century readers are annoyed by the novel’s sentimentality, the religious undertones, and the martyr figures, among other things, but these same qualities that we dislike are what appealed to the novel’s original audience. Being outsiders, it is hard for us to accept Stowe’s message that love must conquer social injustices. However, one must wonder if her own contemporaries accepted this message, since Stowe would have seen the Civil War as forcing change within society without eliminating the prejudices that produced it.
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once declared, “It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it.” In other words, when one is suffering, the desire to reap revenge without consideration as to who is being harmed in the process is innate. This is a common theme within the poem The Epic of Gilgamesh, Euripides tragic play, Medea, and Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet. Characterization is used in these three works to exemplify the revenge seeker’s disregard for anyone but themselves in order to take vengeance on those who committed an act against them.
William Booth once said that “God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the impossible.” This quote expresses the range and extent of religious faith through the strength of passion and love. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, with relation to this kind of religious faith. Her novel repeatedly highlights the faith in God through the main character, Uncle Tom. Stowe ridicules northern abolitionists and southern slave owners who think of Christianity as legalistic. She asserts that Christian faith is a strong love.
Literature like The Interlopers, Romeo and Juliet, and the biography of Tanemori demonstrates Bacon’s revenge idea where harm is given to them when they seek revenge. First, in The Interlopers, Georg and Ulrich seek revenge on each other, as a result; they die from wolves and their family feud continues. Next, in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo seeks revenge on Juliet’s cousin Tybalt; his punishment for revenge is being banned and then later on killed, though his family feud with Juliet ends. Lastly, in Tanemori’s biography, Tanemori spends his life constantly wanting revenge on America; therefore he ends up realizing his life is being wasted, so his feud with America ends. In conclusion, Bacon’s idea has a very accurate way of depicting what will happen when one seeks revenge in either literature, or real life itself.
Exercise is often thought of in a positive light. It is common belief in today’s society that a healthy diet and a regular exercise routine will lead to a long, healthy life. And in the simplest sense of the word, it will. It has been a tried and true method to control and lose weight, lift a person’s mood, boost energy, combat a variety of health conditions and diseases, promote better sleep patterns, and even increase libido. (Mayo Clinic, July 23, 2011). So with all of these being possible and probable benefits of working out, why would it possibly be anything other than good? Certainly, something with so many benefits can’t be a bad thing? However, we may overlook the fact that it is like any good thing; in excess it can become dangerous very quickly. In society, there are increasingly more athletes that are pushing themselves so hard to the point they are making themselves sick. Whatever happened to exercising for simple joy, or competing because of a love for sport? The motivations behind an individual’s exercise habits are directly related to whether they develop an addiction. There is even a term for this over exercising phenomenon: Exercise Addiction, or Exercise Dependence.
The next time you walk into a bar and see that all the elements seem to be at balance and the bartender is smiling ear to ear, you'll know that this will be the bar you'll stay at. The Social Drinker came early and set the stage by drinking with the Outcast, making him socially acceptable. The Freshman has already been kicked out for dropping his third beer and The Fish Out Of Water is starting drinking games, all the while, Huey Lewis And The News is blaring from the speakers. A bartender dreams of this perfect balance of Bar goers on a nightly basis and here it is at-last.
Exercising helps in many different ways such as gaining muscular strength and ability. A person's desire is to lose weight and have a perfect toned figure, but it also helps ease a lot of other conditions as well. Exercising is considered to be a mood booster. It helps improve self esteem and will lower depression. It will make a person a lot happier, and will help bring a positive reaction in the body. Physical activity is very important for obesity. It is really important for obese children or adults to get some form of exercise in their lives. It can be very beneficial for them and can help prevent long term illnesses. People that exercise on a daily basis do it because it helps them feel more positive about themselves and they will be more energized, motivated and focused for the day. It gives people an excessive amount of happiness.
When it comes to bartending, there are a handful of basics that every beginner bartender will be expected to know. Every bartender that is either applying for a job, or just looking to serve at a local party should posses a solid grasp on the tools they will work with, as well as the technique's that they will be putting into practice to ensure every beverage they serve is top quality. Once you have learned the basics of the trade, you will have a solid foundation on which you can continue learning the necessary skills of bartending. Let's begin by taking a look at some of the tools that you will be handling as a bartender in the field.