{"id":378,"date":"2014-02-02T14:22:02","date_gmt":"2014-02-02T05:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/?p=378"},"modified":"2014-02-04T17:14:52","modified_gmt":"2014-02-04T08:14:52","slug":"thinking-about-uncle-tom-in-shizuoka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/02\/thinking-about-uncle-tom-in-shizuoka\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking about Uncle Tom . . . in Shizuoka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here, on the left, is\u00a0one way to look at my neighborhood. My little cave is a few hundred yards\/meters from the MacDonald’s. Look close<\/em>. Me, I’m standing just above the graveyard at the foot of Yatsu-yama (Mt. Yatsu). But in<\/em> the neighborhood, you can stand just about anywhere you like . . . see whatever you like, as\u00a0the shot on the\u00a0right shows.<\/p>\n

\"140202_chiyoda_and_fuji_400\"<\/a>\"140201_lemons_sky_400\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And of course, time<\/em> changes what you see. Here are the kumquats I\u00a0have growing in my little backyard, the rain clinging\u00a0. . . in October.<\/p>\n

\"IF\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And today, in February.<\/p>\n

\"kumqauts_orange_140202_400\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brilliant.<\/p>\n

Every time I read Uncle Tom’s Cabin<\/em>, I see<\/em> it a little differently. And every time my admiration for it grows. And this \u00a0time, there is one scene in particular that has set me to thinking.<\/p>\n

After Uncle Tom is purchased at auction and carted off to the Red river plantation, his owner, Simon Legree, decides to \u201cbreak\u201d him by having him whip another slave, a worn-out woman who can\u2019t get through as much work as Legree expects of her. This whipping of a fellow human being is something that Tom cannot possibly do\u2014and he decides to take the high road: he\u2019ll suffer brutal beatings and whippings himself rather than inflict pain on another.<\/p>\n

Critics of Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin<\/i> often lambast the novel for the characterization of Tom, saying that he is too noble, too willing to bear all that comes, and too forgiving of his tormentors to be real. He is too perfect, in essence, to be human.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Cassy, a woman who has suffered Legree\u2019s savagery much longer than Tom, has been overwhelmed by anguish and despair. She can only cope with the horrors of her existence by subduing her natural sympathy for others\u2014and by despising Legree with all her heart. She would gladly murder Legree if she had the chance. For readers who find Tom too good to be true, Cassy provides a realistic model of a true \u201chuman\u201d reaction to the horrors both she and Tom face. Which is what makes the conversation between the two of them in Chapter 34, \u201cThe Quadroon\u2019s Story,\u201d all the more interesting . . . all the more compelling.<\/p>\n

\"140203_cassy_and_tom_400\"<\/a>Engraving by Hammatt Billings, Uncle Tom’s Cabin <\/em>(Boston: John P. Jewett, 1852) p. 198<\/p>\n

Tom is \u201cgroaning and bleeding alone\u201d\u2014when Cassy, amazed at his power to resist Legree, comes into the gin-house to comfort him. The urge to comfort is not something she\u2019s felt for a long time. She has also come to convince him that he\u2019d best look out for number one\u2014himself\u2014if he wants to survive. His response touches a nerve inside her, one she had thought completely atrophied.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s no use calling on the Lord,\u2014he never hears,” said the woman, steadily; “there isn\u2019t any God, I believe; or, if there is, he\u2019s taken sides against us. All goes against us, heaven and earth. Everything is pushing us into hell. Why shouldn\u2019t we go.”<\/p>\n

. . . . . . . . . .<\/p>\n

The woman sternly continued:<\/p>\n

“And what are these miserable low dogs you work with, that you should suffer on their account? Every one of them would turn against you, the first time they got a chance. They are all of \u2019em as low and cruel to each other as they can be; there\u2019s no use in your suffering to keep from hurting them.”<\/p>\n

“Poor critturs!” said Tom, “what made them cruel?\u2014and, if I give out, I shall get used to\u2019t, and grow, little by little, just like \u2019em! No, no, Missis! I\u2019ve lost everything,\u2014wife, and children, and home, and a kind Mas\u2019r,\u2014and he would have set me free, if he\u2019d only lived a week longer; I\u2019ve lost everything in this<\/i> world, and it\u2019s clean gone, forever,\u2014and now I can\u2019t<\/i> lose Heaven, too; no, I can\u2019t get to be wicked, besides all!”<\/p>\n

“But it can\u2019t be that the Lord will lay sin to our account,” said the woman; “he won\u2019t charge it to us, when we\u2019re forced to it; he\u2019ll charge it to them that drove us to it.”<\/p>\n

“Yes,” said Tom; “but that won\u2019t keep us from growing wicked. If I get to be as hard-hearted as that ar’ Sambo, and as wicked, it won\u2019t make much odds to me how I come so; it\u2019s the being so<\/i>,–that ar’s what I\u2019m a dreadin’.”<\/p>\n

The woman fixed a wild and startled look on Tom, as if a new thought had struck her; and then, heavily groaning, said, “O God a\u2019 mercy! You speak the truth! O\u2014O\u2014O!”\u2014and, with groans, she fell on the floor, like one crushed and writhing under the extremity of mental anguish.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Those readers who can\u2019t quite believe in Tom\u2019s nobility may find themselves writhing under the “extremity” of Stowe\u2019s writing (and sentimentalizing), but I find this exchange\u2014and Cassy\u2019s “conversion”\u2014both convincing and moving. Of course, much of Tom\u2019s strength comes from his strong faith in God and his certainty of eternal life in Heaven, and at first, it is the eternal life of which he speaks to Cassy. However, when she counters that God will surely understand who\u2019s accountable for any cruelty committed by abused slaves robbed of all hope and cornered like dogs, Uncle Tom agrees. Yes, he says, God in Heaven would<\/i> understand that any “wicked” behavior on his part would not be a sin he would be responsible for. Then comes the thought that moves Cassy so: “It\u2019s the being so<\/i>,\u2014that ar\u2019s what I\u2019m a dreadin’.” In essence, Tom is saying that no matter how God may judge him, he will not be able to live with himself <\/i>if he feels he\u2019s done something wicked.<\/p>\n

With God taken out of the question, Cassy can now see deep into Tom\u2019s heart\u2014into his human<\/i> heart. And there she realizes is the greatest courage any human being in this world can exhibit: an absolute refusal to be wicked, whether there\u2019s any heavenly reward or not, whether there\u2019s any earthly<\/i> reward or not\u2014and no matter what\u2019s to be lost thereby.
\nTom\u2019s situation is of the greatest severity. He has lost everything in this world, “wife, and children, and home,” and knows that without wickedness\u2014a “wickedness” that not even God in Heaven would deem a sin\u2014he has absolutely no chance of finding an earthly home again. And still, he can say, “It\u2019s the being so<\/i>,\u2014that ar\u2019s what I\u2019m a dreadin’.”<\/p>\n

Not a bad principle to live by: I just want to be good, no matter.<\/i> Not bad at all.<\/p>\n

No wonder we see Cassy, the realist, slump down to the floor in anguish. No wonder we hear her groaning, “O\u2014O\u2014O!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here, on the left, is\u00a0one way to look at my neighborhood. My little cave is a few hundred yards\/meters from the MacDonald’s. Look close. Me, I’m standing just above the graveyard at the foot of Yatsu-yama (Mt. Yatsu). But in the neighborhood, you can stand just about anywhere you like . . . see whatever … Continue reading Thinking about Uncle Tom . . . in Shizuoka<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":405,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions\/405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}