I would discuss
from both passages. The examples that interest me are in Volume I, Chapter 5, Showing the Feeling of Living Property on Changing
Owners, where Mr. Shelby and his wife Mrs. Shelby are arguing about the
decision Mr. Shelby made that Mr. Shelby have promised to sell Tom and Harry.
James Baldwin
thought the racism is hidden behind “sentimentality” because Stowe
believed that black souls and black bodies are in urgent need of being
saved. One example I found is in page 29, “…… and you have promised him his
freedom, too --- you and I have spoken to him a hundred times of it……” These
words are from Emily, Mrs. Shelby, who were astonished by his husband deciding
to sell Tom. From this sentence, I can feel the desire that Emily wants to set
Tom free, which is just as Baldwin‘s opinion. This is a representation of
racism that only Whites can give Blacks freedom, but not Blacks themselves,
which gives me the sense of unfairness and powerlessness.
I also agree with
the opinion from Jane Tompkins that people nowadays need to take
historical context into consideration when discussion the sentimentality
elements in this book. The example I’d like to show is in page 31, Mrs. Shelby “rested
her face in her hands”, “This is God’s curse on slavery! --- a bitter, bitter,
most accursed thing! --- a curse to the master and a curse to the slave! I was
a fool to think I could make anything good out of such a deadly evil…… fool
that I was!” This sentence might be too sentimental nowadays, however, we do
need to think about the historical situation. Mrs. Shelby is a suitable female figure
for that era. Some females have had the sense to change, although they are not
powerful both in family and in society. Stowe talked what they wanted to talk,
which also gave readers the chance to think how to change the dark sides of the
reality. Hence, this sentimentality is powerful enough in that historical
period.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Yu,
ReplyDeleteThe example you gave can truly indicate the importance of the female characters in the novel. For me, the reason why Harriet Beecher Stowe gave the female characters such a nice personality and integrity is that “male-dominated scholarly tradition” is the other theme for the novel, while the evil of the slavery is the other main topic. Besides, I also think that sentimentality is a kind of writing style at that time. Since, it may raise the sympathy of the audiences and make them think more, when a writer writes the novel in a sentimental way and describes more about female characters. I also gave some examples about the female characters in the novel, such as Eva and Eliza.
I agree with your opinions on these. You provided very detailed evidence from the novel to support your argument, which are quite persuasive. I agree with the unfairness and powerlessness you feel for black, and I also think for the parts you provided as evidences. Those parts also reveal that in that social environment, even though there are a few people want to make change or do some good like Mrs.Shelby, it was really hard for they to make actual change and against the whole society, which also reveal the total powerless of a single person at that time, no matter black or white.
ReplyDelete