摘 要

《汤姆叔叔的小屋》是斯托夫人最重要的一部作品，也是美国历史上最经典的一部反奴隶制小说，其为废除奴隶制做出了巨大贡献。作品中主人公汤姆叔叔是一个虔诚信仰基督教的黑人奴隶，他渴望获得自由但一生中三次被卖，他总是屈从于命运不敢反抗最终悲惨地死去，并未能获得自由。汤姆的死亡给小说蒙上了浓厚的悲剧色彩从而激发了人们对以汤姆为代表的奴隶们的同情以及对奴隶制的反思，继而把反奴隶制运动推向了高潮。斯托夫人是一名坚定的废奴主义者也是一名虔诚的基督徒，因此小说中主要人物都与基督教密切联系。本文通过分析汤姆这一黑奴身上体现出的忠诚、博爱、勇于牺牲、逆来顺受的基督精神，揭示了奴隶制度的罪恶本质以及黑人奴隶要想获得解放必须进行斗争与反抗这一事实。

关键词：《汤姆叔叔的小屋》；基督精神；奴隶制；自由

Contents

1. Introduction 1
2. Demonstration 2
   1. Tom’s loyalty 2
      1. His loyalty to his owners 2
      2. His loyalty to God 3
   2. Tom’s humanity 4
      1. His humanity for the black 4
      2. His humanity for the white 5
   3. Tom’s sacrifice 6
      1. His sacrifice of freedom 6
      2. His sacrifice of life 7
   4. Tom’s obedience 8
      1. His obedience to slavery 8
      2. His obedience to fate 8
3. Conclusion 9

Works Cited 10

Bibliography 11

An Analysis of Tom’s Christianity in Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Introduction

Harriet Beecher Stowe(1811-1896) was a female novelist and abolitionist who was born in a family of religion in America. Her father was a famous clergyman and spokesman of Calvinism, which makes her deeply affected by the theology. In 1832, her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where her father became the president of Lane Theological Seminary. And she fell in love with a professor in the seminary and they married. At that time, Stowe witnessed some miserable stories that some slaves were forced to break up with the families and suffered abuse in Kentucky, which provided materials for her writings. In 1850, her family moved to Maine where she became a firm abolitionist and finally finished Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852. Upon publication, the book received a huge response and made a significant contribution to the abolitionism.

The book tells a story about a black slave named Tom, who was once a slave living in a farm in Kentucky. His master was kind to him but finally decided to sell him for paying off debt. Tom was obedient to this decision. When his new owner Haley shipped him in a riverboat going down along the Mississippi, he saved a little white girl named Eva. Eva persuaded her father, Augustine St. Clare, to buy the ownership of Tom from the cruel slaver Haley. Finally, Tom was sold to Augustine St. Clare who was a wealthy planter in Louisiana. Eva and Tom became good friends quickly because they both had the faith of Christian. After Eva died, Augustine St. Clare decided to give Tom freedom but he died suddenly for getting involved in a conflict. Mrs. St. Clare refused to keep her husband’s promise and sold Tom to cruel Legree who owned a cotton plantation on Red River. Legree persuaded Tom to give up his faith in God and wanted to train Tom to become a cruel supervisor but Tom refused to submit until death.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was listed as the best-seller story in the 19th century.

Although the book was very popular at that time, it also received dispute. Some