The white saviorism in Uncle Tom’s Cabin is abundant, beginning with the fact that Harriet Beecher Stowe, a white author, penned the novel. There are the “good” slave owners and excuses made for others. The slaves that escape are helped by pious white people. And most obviously, George is the ultimate white savior as Tom lays dying. While Tom’s martyrdom certainly parallels that of Jesus, there are also elements of George being the lord and savior. When George arrives, Tom says “Jesus can make a dying-bed/ Feel soft as downy pillows are” (425), implying that George is his savior. He then says
“Bless the Lord! it is,–it is,–it’s all I wanted! They haven’t forgot me. It warms my soul; it does my old heart good! Now I shall die content! Bless the Lord, oh my soul!” (426).
That George is seen as a divine blessing feels absurd to me, considering his family is at fault for Tom’s death. Yet as Tom is killed at the hands of white men, in the institution of slavery, a white man, and Christianity, are still portrayed as his savior.
Hi Pippi,
I agree with your post. However, I am glad that of the Shelby family, George is the one who comes to see Tom. George, from the time Tom is first sold, is ashamed by his family’s actions and proclaims that he will neither buy nor sell slaves when he grows up. He gives Tom what he can, his dollar, to wear around his neck hoping he can help Tom. I thought it was interesting that Beecher Stowe includes a scene where George proclaims he cannot help the enslaved men who help him bury Tom. While George is portrayed as a savior in relation to appearing for Tom, he is also limited in his ability to protect others.
Hi Pippi,
I think you bring up a great point about the function of the “good,” slaveholders throughout the novel especially since in some instances, like with St Clare, they are only “good” to a certain point. Both Eva and St Clare, two of the “good” white characters, both die without being able to free their slaves and genuinely show their “saviorship” but they are both still considered heroes within the story. It is also interesting to see Cassy on the other side of this argument. Her interactions with Tom show one of the few moments where Stowe creates a hero and savior out of one of the black characters rather than one of the white characters.