Uncle Tom's Cabin

I just finished this book last night and wanted to post some thoughts. I loved the book and would recommend it to everyone. I love finding good, uplifting, moral books that keep my attention while inspiring me and this is one of them. I think I can understand the viewpoint of those who find fault with the book, yet it is still an important piece of American literature. Some may find fault with Stowe's sentimentality and moralizing but in my opinion, these are some of the strengths of the book. She forces you to put yourself in the place of a slave and to feel, in some small part, the horrors of slave life. Not only this, she encourages these feelings to produce action--good works toward our fellow men.

One thought that occurred to me while reading the book was the degree to which slavery destroyed families. As a member of a church whose principal goal is to build and strengthen families, this struck me as so tragic and shameful that Americans, even some of my ancestors, allowed this to take place. Also, as a mother myself, it was very difficult for me to read about incidents of children being ripped from their mothers' arms to be sold at auction while their mothers stood powerless to do anything about it. It reminded me of a verse from the Bible:

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:6)

Slavery was and is a curse and part of the reason for that is that it decimated families and stripped human beings of the right to have families and protect them. America is still trying to heal from this immense crime. Joe and I were watching something on PBS the other night that pointed out that our country has still not spent as much time free from slavery as it did enforcing the practice of slavery.

Well, sorry for rambling. I love reading more than ever now because it's kind of like mental exercise for me. When a day is spent with little to no adult conversation, I'm in great need of this kind of exercise. Thanks for humoring me.