Uncle Tom's Cabin
Fayha and Sana Khan
Thesis
In the 1850s, cultural interactions, as seen in Uncle Tom's Cabin, sought to portray African Americans as moral human beings, in order to advocate for the abolitionist movement. Nonetheless, blacks were illustrated negatively in their appearances, similar to the idea of the noble savage, due to the underlying beliefs in white supremacy.
Topsy
In Uncle Tom's Cabin on stage, the African American Actors were depicted as lunatics. This seen through the messy hair many actors depicting Topsy produced on themselves. Furthermore, Topsy often times was barefoot with clothes too big for making her seem uncivilized. Topsy was almost always seen with a creepy smile, which added to her immature and inferior feel. Thus, the juxtaposition between the seemingly crazy Topsy and the African Americans in the book served to emphasize the different views that existed in America in this time.
Uncle Tom Saving Eva
In this scene, Uncle Tom is depicted as a hero because he saves the young white girl Eva from drowning. Although Uncle Tom is a black, he still acts upon his moral instincts in order to save her life
Eva and Topsy
The contrast between Eva, the young white girl, and Topsy, the young black slave, conveys the belief that white people were far more civilized than blacks.
Uncle Tom and Eva
The relationship between Uncle Tom and the little white girl Eva conveys the nurturing nature of a black slave. A young child Eva has not yet learned to differentiate by color and thus, can clearly see the moral attitude of Uncle Tom.
Tomitudes
In order to support the Abolitionist cause and portray African Americans as morally upright people, items such as puzzlers and paper dolls were sold with images of African men depicted as kind and loving.
Fayha Khan
During this time period, depicts the fear that African Americans felt as slaves. It seems that the slaves are always trying to be the best people they can be to gain favor of their owners. In many scenes one man is portrayed as a hero; he saves a girl from drowning, and spends time reading with her. I can see the hopelessness the African Americans felt about their situations. No matter what they did, they would always be doomed for a life of servitude. Furthermore, the human qualities of African Americans are portrayed through the illustrations of them doing things even white people did. A young slave girl is seen playing with a white girl and a man is seen enjoying reading a book with a young girl. All of these depictions highlight the human qualities in the slaves and make them more relatable in the whites' eyes. The most surprising image was that of Topsy. I was appalled to see an African Americans depicted so offensively; Topsy embodied all the racist qualities that whites associated with African Americans. It was pretty unfortunate to think that all of the good qualities of the slaves were squandered just by changing the appearance. Furthermore, it was very rude that Topsy was depicted as crazy just because of the stereotype.
Sana Khan
During this time period, the Abolitionist movement was beginning to catch hold in society. Thus, Uncle Tom's Cabin has nuances of the moral and heroic character of black slaves. Despite the hardships and challenges they face on a daily basis, sometimes blacks are morally superior to whites. The relationship between Eva and Uncle Tom conveys they nurturing attitude of Uncle Tom. Moreover, the nuances of emotion that were in the scenes of this story during slave auctions and whippings conveys the attitude that black slaves have very difficult lives.
The most surprising images I saw were the ones portraying the black female character Topsy almost as a lunatic. She had a devilish appearance that conveyed her low status as a slave and insubordination in society. She appeared this way mainly because of the black face that was used by white actors in order to differentiate their race. In today's society black face is not tolerated in society because it is so deeply offensive to all.