strong emotions, the context determined how the reading public would react to them. Stowe deliberately manipulated the content to generate a public reaction, and almost 140 years later, Uncle Toms Cabin continues to provide this forum to its readers, including myself.My initial reaction to Uncle Toms Cabin purely as a literary piece was a combination of confusion, embarrassment, and perhaps slight boredom. At several points throughout the novel I became somewhat confused at whether the narrator was nonpartisan. It appeared that Stowe sometimes allowed her own voice to penetrate the actual story, which can cause some confusion as to the credibility of the incidents in the novel. Reading Uncle Toms Cabin, I also felt somewhat embarrassed. My embarrassment stems from a more psychological root, which causes me to feel somehow responsible for the injuries caused to another race. Although I of course realize that I was born over 100 years after slavery was abolished, to an extent the novel developed within me feelings of personal accountability. I can therefore understand perhaps why Uncle Toms Cabin had a similar effect on the American population before the civil war. The novel bored me however, not because the plot was uninteresting, but because Stowes writing style was rigidly formal. For example, it was difficult to recognize the several humorous instances in the book until I had re-read the passages several times. By that time, I was too mentally exhausted to appreciate any comical situation. I do realize, though, that her writing technique was perfectly suitable for a 19th century audience.Throughout the novel, Stowe consciously creates characters that are either exceedingly virtuous or awfully depraved. It is therefore predictable as to whom readers will elect as their favorite and least favorite individuals. Most likely people immediately admire the hero of the novel, Uncle Tom, as well as the angel-like child, Eva. These...
