Jane Doe

Professor Kelly Martin

English 2327

9 November 2004
Text: Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Passage: Often and often she walked mournfully round the place where Haley’s gang of men and women sat in their chains. She would glide in among them, and look at them with an air of perplexed and sorrowful earnestness; and sometimes she would lift their chains with her slender hands, and then sigh wofully, as she glided away. Several times she appeared suddenly among them, with her hands full of candy, nuts, and oranges, which she would distribute joyfully to them, and then be gone again.
Tom watched the little lady a great deal, before he ventured on any overtures towards acquaintanceship. He knew an abundance of simple acts to propitiate and invite the approaches of the little people, and he resolved to play his part right skillfully. He could cut cunning little baskets out of cherrystones, could make grotesque faces on hickory-nuts, or odd-jumping figures out of elder-pith, and he was a very Pan in the manufacture of whistles of all sizes and sorts. His pockets were full of miscellaneous articles of attraction, which he had hoarded in days of old for his master’s children, and which he now produced, with commendable prudence and economy, one by one, as  overtures for acquaintance and friendship. (Stowe 1712).
Stowe starts with pathos (emotional appeal) by stating the demeanor of Eva. She uses the word “mournfully” (1712) to establish the understanding of the situation at hand. This description of a room full of people is a ‘thumbnail sketch’ of the society that perpetuated the system of slavery throughout the entire novel. The situation of the slave is to be mourned and considered with sorrow. Her sadness focuses the reader on the condition of the circumstances in which the slaves find themselves. 
By contrast, Tom, the person in chains brings a message of hope. The author appeals to the need by describing in exact detail the trinkets that he holds as instruments. The reader needs to know the exact lengths to which Tom, as a slave goes, to bring joy to the life of Eva. They are a means to an end. Tom employs these skillfully “as overtures for acquaintance and friendship”. (1712)
 Stowe discreetly enhances the appeal to character by creating visual images of chains which contrast with slender hands. The sweet candy is a delicacy and reminds of the character of Eva, while the hickory-nuts of Tom are a healthful and functional reflection of his own character.  The substantial, beneficial character of the slave aligns with items that have no life in them: Elder-pith, cherry-stones and whistles are dead, just like his hope of freedom from chains. At the same time oranges are alive and bright in color, like the eyes, clothes and future of the character that presents them. There is even contradiction in the moods of this character as she mourns their chains and finds joy in their pleasures. Stowe characterizes Eva as the good character in order to appeal to our own morality and challenge us to personal improvement. The contradiction of images, leads the reader to consider the ethics and morality in the contrasting characters of Eva and Tom. The conflicts of black and white; free and enslaved; right and wrong; resonate throughout the entire novel and lingers in this society, hundreds of years later. 
Finally, the logos (logical appeal) by which Tom endeavors to secure his friendship with Eva blends with the pathos, as we understand that his hope of survival and a tolerable future lies in his ability to secure this friendship. The appeal to value whereby Tom needs this friendship to survive transcends society in a way that we all need to value seemingly insignificant contributions. When society learns to place value on those that are opposite or different, we can overcome our circumstantial barriers and obtain freedom from our chains of ignorance.