Comparison of Uncle Tom's Cabin(by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Surfacing Essay

Comparison of Uncle Tom's Cabin(by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Surfacing (byMargaret Atwood) - Essay Example In contrast, Stowe would show the transcendent in the ordinary life through the singularity of the individual. For Stowe, the individuals are unique not because they are very different from one another but because they are alike in being unique types of the same spiritual truth. Stowe presents a sentimental type of person, which is therefore presenting a taxonomic view of the individual. The individual mirrors a set of personal emotions which convery universal truths and moral claims that is replete with the complex and contrasting influences of the social, religious, and political discourses. In the opening scene of Uncle Tom’s cabin, Stowe presents the common figure of â€Å"the gentleman† and highlights the role of Haley from the given group. Haley was described as a crude person with a gaudy vest with many colors, coarse speech and gaudy hands and a free and easy speech. In her writing, she emphasized the capacity of physical appearances to influence the reader. She explained how a commercial transaction had penetrated the domestic front and she had showed how these transactions threaten the very moral and social levels that make one social group distinct from another. The novel showed the fact that Tom is a Christian and has never cheated Shelby. The exceptional moral stature of Tom makes him a valuable asset on the slave market. Stowe also described the New England household which is characterized by incessant and uninterrupted household work. Her specific descriptions of the novel’s characters revealed a strong ethic of self-reliance and hard w ork as shown by the character of Ophelia. Stowe also features the first of Christian virtues: cleanliness. After one of the characters of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Ophelia, changes the young girls shirt, the sight of Topsys whip-scarred back changes Ophelias hardened rectitude and racism. The description of the welts at Topsy’s back showed the predatory