One major theme I've chosen to represent Beloved and Uncle Tom's Cabin is FAMILY. I chose this theme because family is a valuable asset in both novels. The characters in both novels are willing to do anything to protect their families, even if that means kill one of their own, such as Sethe in Beloved. Family creates power and there is power in numbers. Sethe choosing to kill one of her children gave her power over the slave owners. In Uncle Tom's Cabin, mothers also killed their children. Family differed in the novel, though. One family was willing to help the slaves, one would have turned in the slaves, and another had a neutral feeling towards the slaves. In this sense, family also gave the characters power - power over the slaves. Complete opposites when comparing the novels together. The characters also find family in others. They are willing to fight for one another.
However, family is also torn apart. For example, in Beloved Sethe, Paul D., and Denver cannot stay together for some reason. It seems as though Beloved tore the family apart. In Uncle Tom's Cabin, families are also torn apart. The slaves' families are separated from beginning to end. Children are taken away from their mothers, wives taken from husbands...and even when they escape, some don't make it, and some have to learn to survive for themselves. The killing of children because of slavery happens in both novels. It's horrible to think of ever killing someone you love. I don't think I could do it.
I like how you chose family to focus on, I never even thought of family as a main role/theme in the novels. Way to think outside of the box. I like how you look at the plus side of the family in the novels, but also how they were torn apart, and children taken away. Great Post!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to consider how both novels focus on family--do we see more positive representations of family in one text or another?
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