In this blog post, we’ll take a natural look at the content, impressions, and core meaning of the work, focusing on “Slavery and Humanity: Questions Raised by ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ and Lessons for Action.”

The Question and the Work’s Starting Point

Let me ask you a strange question. Is slavery a bad system, or is it a necessary evil that inevitably existed in a society—or that still cannot help but exist today? Does slavery lead to the ruin of a country that legally permits and enforces it, or does it also contribute in some way to that country’s maintenance and development?
You’ll probably object right away. What kind of absurd question is that? Who wouldn’t consider slavery an evil system? That’s right. Slavery is undoubtedly the worst system that has ever existed in human society. To treat human beings as commodities to be bought and sold! To regard and abuse human beings like animals! To legalize such an appalling sense of discrimination! Such things must never happen again. We all agree on that.
Yet this worst of all systems has undeniably persisted for a very long time in human history. It endured from ancient Greece and Rome all the way to 19th-century North America; in our own country, during the Joseon Dynasty, nearly half the population were slaves, and during the Japanese colonial period, the Korean people were all virtually no different from slaves. Furthermore, the people of North Korea today should be viewed as little more than slaves in practice, even if they are technically “citizens.” This is because a person deprived of freedom is a slave rather than a human being. The citizens of all authoritarian states are closer to slaves than to human beings.
Therefore, it is quite important to examine—from historical, political, social, and economic perspectives—why slavery arose in human society and what characteristics define societies or nations that have legalized it. I encourage you to take an interest in this as well. It is an issue related to freedom and equality—two of humanity’s fundamental rights—and because the discrimination of one human being against another and the deprivation of freedom can happen at any time in human society and, in fact, is happening right now.

The Way ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ Raises the Issue

But let’s set those questions aside for now and ask a different one—a more practical and proactive one. If such an unjust system were currently in place in the society we live in, and if, moreover, many people accepted it as a matter of course, how should we, as members of that society, act? What is the right course of action? Furthermore, what is the most effective way to abolish that harmful system?
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s (1811–1896) ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ is a novel that poses these questions to us seriously—and painfully.
Slavery in the United States was not a system practiced nationwide. It was a system enforced only in the Southern states, where cotton was the backbone of the economy. This was because the American South, which relied almost entirely on Black labor to plant, harvest, and process cotton, needed to maintain slavery firmly in place.
In contrast, the northern states relied primarily on industry and manufacturing rather than agriculture, and wage labor was central to these industries. Furthermore, as we examined in ‘The Scarlet Letter’, the North—centered around New England—was founded on Puritan ethics. The northern states had no institutional need for slavery and, ethically, could not condone it.

A Narrative That Goes Beyond a Simple Good-versus-Evil Framework

As we’ve already said, slavery is an evil institution. It is a system that must be abolished. In that case, the simplest way to think about it is to view the people in the South, who practiced slavery, as bad people, and the people in the North, who did not, as good people. In that scenario, the solution is straightforward. The “good” people and the “bad” people would fight, and the “good” people would win. Viewed this way, the American Civil War becomes a war in which the “apostles of justice” defeated the villains who supported and enforced slavery.
However, this is a classic example of black-and-white, binary thinking. To spark such a war, one need only ignite anger toward slavery. One simply needs to instill a sense of mission, justice, and a fighting spirit. And if someone decides to write a novel that instills such a sense of mission and justice, they should write a novel that exposes how much Black people suffer under slavery and how cruel and villainous their white masters are. Such expository novels also have their own significance.
‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ is clearly a novel that denounces slavery and calls for action to abolish it. However, this work takes a markedly different direction from the expository novels mentioned earlier. Of course, elements of denunciation and exposure are present in this work, but they are merely incidental. This work contains something more than that. And it is precisely that “something more” that compels people—and politicians—to take action. And that is what makes this work a great classic.

Complexly Portrayed Characters

First of all, in this work, Southerners are not unconditionally evil, nor are Northerners unconditionally good. Tom’s first owners, Mr. and Mrs. Shelby, are kind people who make efforts to ensure their slaves can live a humane life. While they do not actively reject slavery, they do their best to treat their slaves well within the system. What about Tom’s second owners, the Augustines St. Claires? He is a character who harbors hatred toward the institution of slavery. Consequently, he is lenient toward his slaves and allows them to do as they please. Whether it’s the Shelbys or the St. Claires, they are far from being villains who deserve punishment.
What, then, of the Northerners? In the novel, the author directly and vehemently condemns the Northerners as follows:

“I ask the fathers and mothers of the North, and the Christians among you: Will you merely condemn your Southern compatriots? Will you turn a blind eye, claiming that this institution has nothing to do with you and that there is nothing you can do? Is that truly an honest stance before God? No! It is a lie. You, too, have defended and encouraged this system, and you have participated in it. In that you have shown no remorse whatsoever regarding slavery, you are, in a sense, more guilty before God than the people of the South. Moreover, there are many among the Northerners who are also involved in the slave trade. You must not merely condemn your Southern compatriots; you must reflect together with them.”

Ophelia is the figure who symbolically embodies this very attitude. On the surface, she appears to have nothing to reflect on. She has lived faithfully according to Christian ethics and abhors slavery. Yet she is merely a bystander. She believes that simply opposing slavery is enough to fulfill her duty as a human being and a Christian. Yet she overlooks one crucial point. The reason she finds herself in a position to oppose slavery is simply that she happened to be lucky enough to live in New England—a place where the Puritan spirit is deeply entrenched. In that she, too, harbors prejudices against Black people, she is no different from the Southerners. Those who stand by and watch while evil is committed are no different from those who commit that evil.
Therefore, the dichotomous framework of “Northerners = good people, Southerners = bad people” cannot hold true.

The Choices of the Slaves Themselves and Tom

Let’s now examine this from the perspective of the slaves themselves. Slaves cannot abolish the institution of slavery on their own. They lack the legal standing to do so and do not possess the power to do it either. They have no choice but to choose between resigning themselves to life as slaves or risking everything to resist. However, given their circumstances, there are limits to their resistance. The most proactive course of action is to break their own chains and escape. George and Mrs. Harris are precisely such characters.
Yet this novel presents another path—the one Tom takes. At first glance, Tom might appear to be a character who has resigned himself to the reality of slavery. However, he has not simply accepted slavery and settled into it. He transcends that reality through the power of religion. He even forgives the enemies who caused his death.
He is an unrealistic character. While many of the novel’s characters are based on real people the author either saw firsthand or heard about from others, the novel’s protagonist, “Uncle Tom,” is extremely unrealistic. He is not a realistic character but one created by the author. Think about it. While there may be Black people who have become pastors, could a person like Tom—who forgives and loves the enemies who led him to his death—realistically exist so easily?
Yet the author portrays this unrealistic character as an ideal figure. Take a closer look at Tom’s actions as he dies. Doesn’t the author depict his death as if it were the death of Jesus? Isn’t his death likened to the sacrifice of Jesus?
That’s right. The author creates Tom not as a character who simply accepts slavery as it is, but as one who transcends and embraces it. Though his status is that of a slave, his soul stands above his masters. He does not belong to his masters; he belongs to God.
He does not struggle. Yet that does not mean he has surrendered. To demand that Tom engage in a practical struggle is akin to Jesus’ disciples earnestly wishing for him to become an earthly king. Like Jesus, Tom is not an earthly figure but a heavenly one. However, in any case, he takes no action whatsoever to oppose slavery. On the surface, it merely appears as though he died a martyr’s death while upholding his faith.

The Purpose of Tom’s Creation and His Persuasiveness

In this work, the author strongly urges everyone to take active steps to abolish this evil institution. Yet Tom is far from being a character who engages in such practical action. So why did the author create such an idealized character as Tom?
Suppose you were a Southern plantation owner who kept slaves. And imagine what would happen if you were deeply moved by this novel and felt a sense of nobility in Tom’s actions. Wouldn’t Tom’s image begin to flicker in the faces of Black people? Wouldn’t you see into their inner selves, into their souls? Wouldn’t your prejudice against Black people disappear? And wouldn’t you find yourself muttering, “No, how could anyone enslave a person like that?” And wouldn’t you have become an abolitionist? In short, wouldn’t you have actively reflected on and rejected your current self?
If you were a Northerner, what would have happened? Wouldn’t you have felt truly ashamed? Wouldn’t you have been ashamed of yourself for merely paying lip service to the idea that “slavery is a bad system” while still harboring prejudices against Black people? And wouldn’t you have taken concrete action to abolish slavery?
In that sense, Uncle Tom—as idealized by the author—becomes the most practical protagonist, prompting both Northerners and Southerners to look inward and reflect. And the power this protagonist exerts is far more potent than that of a straightforward exposé novel.
Exposé novels are far more likely to lull us into a false sense of security than to spur us to action. This is because they can lead us to console ourselves with the thought that we are living our lives without committing such wrongs. To be honest, people aren’t particularly ethical or altruistic—and this is even more true when there is no self-reflection. The power of self-reflection is stronger than the power of anger that wells up from a third-party perspective. This is because anger tends to remain trapped within oneself, whereas self-reflection can lead to practical actions for the benefit of others.

The Work’s Influence and the Author’s Life

Mrs. Stowe’s ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ is an outstanding example of engaged literature. This novel demonstrates very clearly what role literature can play in reality. Rather than making us clench our fists, this novel makes us feel ashamed. And it compels us to take decisive action to escape that shame.
After the Civil War broke out, when Stowe visited President Lincoln at the White House, the President said, “You are the little woman who wrote the book that sparked this great war.”
What do you think? Isn’t that a beautiful encounter? Doesn’t it look like a meeting between two great activists? One, as a novelist, and the other, as a politician, took the most active steps toward the emancipation of slaves—and to think that the two of them met like that!
Stowe was born in 1811 as the seventh child of the Reverend Lyman Beecher. When her older sister, Catherine, founded the Hartford Female School, Stowe became a student there and later worked as a teacher at the school.
Later, when her father moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, Stowe and her sister followed him and established a school there. There, Stowe married Calvin Ellis Stowe, a professor at the seminary where her father served as principal. As the wife of a poor professor, she contributed short stories to various literary magazines to help support the household. Then, in 1850, her husband was appointed a professor at his alma mater, Bowdoin College, and she returned to New England with him; that very same year, the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted. Outraged, she decided to write a novel protesting slavery. She began serializing ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ in a newspaper in 1851 and published it as a two-volume book in 1852.
‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ became an instant sensation upon publication, selling 200,000 copies that year alone and going on to become a bestseller with over 3 million copies sold across Europe. More than 160 years after its publication, it has been translated into 32 languages and has been adapted primarily into plays, earning the affection of many. In Korea, because it was introduced as children’s literature, its literary value and significance were not fully recognized; however, as great writers like Tolstoy—who was deeply moved after reading this novel and praised it as “the noblest work born of love for God and humanity”—have noted, it is a great classic that continually prompts us to reflect on ourselves.
In addition to ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’, Stowe wrote eight other full-length novels and passed away at her home in Hartford in 1896 at the age of eighty-five.