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| Eliza crosses the ice -- from the illustrated 1853 edition |
Form a group with 2-3 people around you:
Group 1: Chapter VI
Group 2: Chapter VII
Group 3: Chapter VIII
Group 4: Chapter IX
Group 5: Chapter X
Group 6: Chapter XI
Focus on the following factors and address them in a group comment of at least 150 words for which you will all receive comment credit. You may simply identify sentences/passages and page numbers and briefly suggest their relevance.
- Who are the main characters and what are the main events in the chapter?
- Who does Stowe portray as being good? Who are the villains?
- Are any characters portrayed as having social authority? Do any characters attempt to display social authority (regardless of their status)?
- Are there any characters for whom Stowe encourages sympathy? How does she encourage readers to identify with or care about certain characters?
- Do any characters break the law in your chapter?
- Does Stowe directly address readers at any point in your chapter? If so, how does she attempt to guide interpretations or experiences of events?
- Does Stowe discuss Christian attitudes on slavery in your chapter? Do any characters do things described as "Christian?" Does she call anyone out for being un-Christian or a hypocrite?
The main characters in this chapter are Mr. and Mrs. Bird and in this chapter they help Eliza and her son. Stowe seems to portray Mrs. Bird as being good and having respectful Christian values. At first it seems like the senator is the villain, since we know he voted for that law, but after seeing Eliza and her son in front of him and his wife talking to him he seems to have a change of heart. This is important that the senator is helping her since in fact he is a senator and has social authority. Stowe is encouraging sympathy for slaves with children and especially mothers. She even goes as far to compare the senator’s dead child to Eliza’s son. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bird are breaking the law when they help Eliza in this chapter. It doesn’t seem like Stowe directly address the readers but instead indirectly addresses Christians, females, and most importantly mothers. Mrs. Bird has a strong Christian attitude towards slavery and we see this when she says, “Now, John, I don’t know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate; and that Bible I mean to follow.” (pg. 68) Mrs. Bird values her Christian morals more than the law.
ReplyDeleteAhmad Nassif,
Cathlin O'Reilly
Kelsey Nixon
Main Characters
ReplyDelete-Mr. And Mrs. Shelby
-Haley
-Sam
Main Event:
Haley shows up to claim Harry and Tom, only to discover that Eliza has escaped in the night with her son. The Shelby’s and other slaves, such as Aunt Chloe and Sam, work to stall Haley so that Eliza can get a good head start before Haley goes after her.
Stowe portrays Mrs. Shelby as being very good; showing her relief when Mrs. Shelby discovers Eliza has escaped. Mrs. Shelby is further portrayed in as a good ally to Eliza as she gives orders to Sam to tamper with Haley’s saddle to delay Haley’s search for Eliza. However, her goodness is diminished by her lack of her participation of these delays, as she is seen only giving commands. Those who carry out the orders, Sam, who leads Haley through the long way to town, and Aunt Chloe who delays Haley with a long lunch, are seen as the purist form of good within this chapter.
Haley is the obvious villain within this chapter. He is portrayed as harsh in his actions towards the Shelbys, and towards the slaves he encounters. While he is slowed down, he is hardly deterred from his mission of hunting down Eliza and capturing her and her son.
Stowe encourages the readers to identify with Mrs. Shelby, a Christian woman. Stowe seems to reach out to Christian Women through her character of Mrs. Shelby who is seen as sympathetic towards her slaves, and as an avid opponent towards the institution of slavery. The slaves themselves seem to serve Mrs. Shelby and follower her orders with more will, responding to the limited respect they received from Mrs. Shelby.
Mrs. Shelby through her passive actions, and both the slaves which delay Haley’s attempt to capture slaves, break that law as they are preventing the capture of Eliza in the best way they know how. Even Mr. Shelby does nothing to prevent Haley’s delay, but rather takes the ultimate passive stance on the matter.
-Katie McDoniel & Hannah Aven
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DeleteBridget Keene
ReplyDeleteAndrew Serice
Chapter VI
The main characters in this chapter are Mr. and Mrs. Shelby as well as Mr. Haley. It is in this chapter that Mr. Shelby tells Mr. Haley about Eliza’s disappearance and Mrs. Shelby attempts to delay Mr. Haley’s search for Eliza.
Even in her absence, the reader feels sympathetic toward Eliza. From this sympathy stems a compassion for Mrs. Shelby, who is working to aid her escape. Mr. Haley is the antagonist, accusing Mr. Shelby of aiding Eliza’s escape and trying to bring her back and separate her from her son. Mrs. Shelby probably commands the most social authority in this chapter, next to Mr. Haley, based on her influence over the slaves, her husband, and the situation as a whole. She technically breaks the law, but in a roundabout fashion, subtly slowing Mr. Haley down in his search to retrieve Eliza. Andy and Sam carried out the actual sabotage, but under Mrs. Shelby’s orders.
Mia Collins, Katelyn Holley, Darcy Child
ReplyDeleteThe main characters in this chapter are Haley, Mr. Shelby, Mrs. Shelby, Sam, and Andy. Mrs. Shelby is portrayed as the “good” character through her actions to help Eliza, even when she is away. Sam and Andy are also more sympathetic to Mrs. Shelby’s cause, undermining Haley’s efforts when possible. Haley is depicted as more of a villain. He attempts to have social authority through constantly barking orders and creating an air of superiority about him. The slaves are shown as having sympathy to Mrs. Shelby and are inclined listen to her by stalling Haley’s attempt to pursue Eliza. Stowe’s writing in this chapter causes the reader to identify most with Mrs. Shelby because she wants Eliza to escape with Harry, rather than being sold to the trader. Mrs. Shelby portrays the Christian attitude by scolding Sam for his “wicked” language when he uses phrases such as “Lord bless you” or “Lord knows” (Stowe 39).
Group 2: Chapter 7: Christi Tan, Samantha Stillman, Priya Patel
ReplyDeleteThe main characters are Eliza, Aunt Chloe, Mr. Haley, Mr. Symmes, and Sam. All of these characters play a crucial role in this specific chapter, the driving force being Eliza's escape to save Harry. Mr. Haley is portrayed as the villain for trying to capture Eliza and her son. Eliza and everyone else listed are portrayed as good since they each contribute to Eliza's escape. Eliza runs away with Harry, Aunt Chloe and Sam delay Mr. Haley's pursuit of Eliza, but he gets back on her trail, thus making her desperate enough to cross the river with her son. Mr. Symmes helps her out of the river and directs her to the house of someone who can help. Mr. Symmes is good but has a strong sense of self preservation that inhibits his ability to follow through all the way with his actions. Mr. Haley's legal ownership of Harry gives him social authority that drives him to pursue Eliza taking Shelby's slaves as his guide, indicating his authority over Shelby family. Eliza directly breaks the law where as all the other good characters bend the law for her benefit. Despite the fact that Eliza breaks the law for her son, Stowe still induce a sense of sympathy from her readers for these characters.
Susan Wirtanen
ReplyDeleteMolly Stier
Sydney Snedeker
Noe Caballero
Chapter 9
The main characters of chapter 9 include Mr. Bird (the senator) and Mrs. Bird, Eliza, Dinah, Cudjoe, and John Vantrompe. All of the characters in this chapter are ultimately good by contributing to Eliza’s escape and providing help. However, John Bird serves closest to a villain, representing almost a devils advocate. Mary Bird proves to have the most social authority throughout the chapter, despite her husband’s status as senator and being a woman, by standing up for her beliefs towards Eliza. The Birds’ slave Dinah shows a sympathetic reaction towards Eliza’s story, as well as Mary Bird, who tries to instill some of her own sympathy for Eliza into her husband. In this chapter, everyone bends the law. John Bird pays John Vantrompe to house Eliza and although the action isn’t carried out within the chapter, he agrees. Stowe sarcastically addresses the reader (page 78), stating her view towards John as being an “unfortunate hero”, although she acknowledges him as a hero, the only heroic thing he has done is assist Eliza. Also in chapter 9, Mary represents the Christian ideal, despite what they have been told by the public, and even her husband too.
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ReplyDelete