Q6: Discuss a selected text in which the author deals with current historical events. How does the text reflect and engage with what happens in the world?

Question 1

Give examples of texts dealing with current historical events.

Answer 1

• Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

- Cormac McCarthy “No Country for Old Men”

Question 2

How is Uncle Tom characterized?

Answer 2

• enslaved person, depicted as saintly and steadfast in his beliefs
• he maintains his steadfastly Christian attitude toward his own suffering

Question 3

How is Uncle Tom similar to Christ?

Answer 3

• beaten to death by fellow slaves

- he forgives them before dying (martyr character)

Question 4

What is the major theme in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”?

Answer 4

The problem of slavery and the treatment of humans as property.

Question 5

How does “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” deal with the current historical events?

Answer 5

The novel gives a contemporary account of the evils of slavery without any of the mythology created after the war to water down the evils of the institution.

Question 6

How did Stowe’s position as a white author helped in getting her point across the society?

Answer 6

She was able to reach and influence more people with her powerful argument against slavery due to her being white.