Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a classic novel that according to some evoked the American Civil War. Stowe motivated people to take a stand on the issue of slavery by discussing the issue and showing its cruel aspects. The main goal of the novel was to show white people that African Americans have a soul and feelings like any other human being; at the time it was common for whites to view blacks as livestock. Families were separated, and the whites' reasoning was that blacks did not feel the loss the same way whites did. Stowe's basic argument is that it is wrong to mistreat blacks because they suffer just as much as whites. The most important character in Uncle Tom's Cabin is Uncle Tom himself. Uncle Tom is a very honest and intelligent middle-aged black man. Uncle Tom is entrusted with many important affairs of the house, even large sums of money, by his master, Mr. Shelby. Uncle Tom has many opportunities to escape, but always returns, feeling that he cannot violate his master's trust by running away with his money. The story of Uncle Tom is reminiscent of the biblical story of Joseph and his slavery in Egypt. Joseph's master, Potiphar, entrusts Joseph with all his possessions just as Mr. Shelby does with Uncle Tom. The turning point in the novel is when Mr. Shelby finds himself in debt to a slave trader named Haley, and the only solution is to give Uncle Tom and Harry, the son of Eliza, one of Mr. Shelby's maids, to Haley . This is the dividing point of the novel, with the plot going in two different directions, one following the story of Eliza and Harry and the other following the story of Uncle Tom. Eliza runs away with Harry and meets her husband, George, who has run away from a cruel... middle of paper......because he himself hates Christian values. He tries to make Uncle Tom fend for himself and whip a woman. Uncle Tom blatantly refuses. Legree is outraged and shouts that he owns Uncle Tom, body and soul, to which Uncle Tom replies that Jesus owns his soul, not Legree. The ultimate reward of living a Christian life is worth any amount of pain Legree inflicts on him. Legree orders Uncle Tom beaten until he complies, but he dies. According to Stowe, Uncle Tom wins because he managed to go to heaven while Legree loses because he will eventually go to hell. In the nineteenth century, it was a new idea that blacks also had souls like whites. The idea was the first step in making whites accountable for their actions towards blacks, whether good or bad; slave owners were forced to view their black slaves as human beings instead of animals.