Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Stowe’s Sympathetic Appeal

In chapter 7 of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe lashes out pro-slavery supporters. She probably placed the readers into a serious guilt trip, as she was trying to reach right into their souls by forcing them to think about how they would feel if they were in Eliza’s situation (Eliza ran away with her child, Harry, in order to avoid seperation).

If it were your Harry, mother, or your Willie, that were going to be torn from you by a brutal trader, to-morrow morning,–if you had seen the man, and heard that the papers were signed and delivered, and you had only from twelve o’clock till morning to make good your escape,– how fast could you walk? How many miles could you make in those few brief hours, with the darling at your bosom,– the little sleepy head on your shoulder,–the small soft arms trustingly holding on to your neck?

This appeal to sympathy by Harriet Beecher Stowe, mainly made to advocates of slavery, was definitely a right step to raise awareness. This tactic deems to be extremely effective, as human sympathy is one of the things that can be touched in order to trigger change in someone’s mind. It is especially sympathy triggering because it causes the reader to ponder on a situation of a torn relationship of their own. Mothers and children have always been a subject of pleas and appeals, because they cause the most guilt in people when mentioned. In fact, many southerners and pro-slavery supporters were touched by such guilt-trip causing instances: one of them being this excerpt in chapter 7 of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Judging by how beautifully written Uncle Tom’s Cabin is just at the beginning of the novel, we can conclude that the rest of it will be even better as we progress through the chapters!