in his pursuit of freedom. He pursues physical freedom from the bonds of slavery; slavery is all about the politics of ownership for him. Like Douglass and Brent, George uses his body to achieve the freedom he wants. However, unlike Douglass and Brent, George fails to “resolve the spiritual and political oppression of the slave system” through any kind of intellectual prowess (MacFarlane 135). Stowe means well when she has George achieve his goal of freedom. However, she doesn’t allow him to come beyond the idea of “the ‘negro’ as a ‘pathetically inept creature who was a slave to his emotions’ who . . . lacks the white man’s intellect” (Sorisio). Although George does display some mechanical ability in inventing a machine to aid his factory, he doesn’t possess the higher levels of thought required to liberate his mind. He is interested in being politically and economically free, and eventually achieves that, but only by physically running away. George never has a moment like Douglass does with Covey or Brent does with Flint. His freedom relies solely on his desire to own himself. Action on desire and impulse, such as suddenly stealing away in the night, makes George a slave to his emotions. The connection between the mind and body can be seen clearly in the two former slaves examined. They know the role that their intellect plays in their success. It is understandable that Stowe as a white woman would write stereotyped characters, George being only one example. She tries to refute the hierarchy of race by allowing the slaves to attain their individual perceived freedom, in this case George’s life in Canada. However, through George, she reinforces the idea that slaves rely solely on emotional impulse. All three of these books have really helped me to gain an understanding of what the racial ideologies of the period in which they were written were: Dou...
