The Truth About The Slavery

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

There are two sides to every story and the same thing goes for History. The slavery is a dark stain on the idea of America – created to be a place of equality and freedom, for a long period of time the country’s economy depended on the constant import of slaves from Africa. From the perspective of a person living in the 21st century this is obviously an evil but looking at the American literature of the 19th century we can see that the enslavement of a race was seen as a necessity and defended by both politicians and the Church, and the suffering of these people was often discarded, as they were not proper human beings but mere animals, cheaper and more easily replaceable than a horse or a dog.

Both Melville and Stowe address the issue of slavery but their approaches are quite different. In "Benito Cereno"the slaves are reduced to savages, true not so much because of their race, but because of the cruelty of the situation. Both blacks and whites are so dehumanized and deformed that the novella could be discarded as pure fiction if it wasn’t based on true historical events. There is nothing good, or light, or nice in those humans, there’s no such thing as a "happy slave "or a "good master"and no kindness is left unpunished. On the other hand "Uncle Tom's Cabin"is a book filled with kindness and grace, good and understanding people and its main character is the epitome of a good obedient Christian who is more willing to lose his life than to be cruel or to betray his master. But this story is also based on true facts and events. So maybe the truth about the slavery can be found somewhere in the middle.

The first thing that strikes the reader in "Benito Cereno" is the attitude of Captain Delano towards the slaves. He does not hate them, he is not cruel or unkind, and in fact we are left with the impression that he quite likes them. But he does not see them as humans; it is more of the benevolent attitude of a person towards dogs. (Babo is compared to a loyal Shepard dog.) And the same way some people keep dogs but mistreat them, the kindness towards slaves is more of a personal preference than an obligation towards another human being. Same thing can be seen if we read between the lines "Uncle Tom's Cabin". There the "bad guys" can be easily spotted; they are so blatantly evil that seem almost too much. In that sense Mr. Haley is not unlike Captain Delano – he thinks himself humane and kind for he is not as cruel as he can be, but this is only because it makes his job much easier and mistreating a slave will be damaging property. If we put things this way the good captain is equally guilty as the slave trader because of his viewing the slaves as animals, despite his sympathies. What majorly differentiates Haley form Delano is the issue of thrust. Delano is depicted as a kind natured person may be a bit naïve, and precisely that is what clouds his judgment and stops him from seeing that he is in danger. He somehow cannot bring himself to believe that men are evil. On the other hand Haley, as well as every other "bad guy" in the novel, makes distrusting slaves his second nature. No matter how kind and obedient a slave is, deep down he is always planning his escape, hates his master and would happily see him dead. Those people, being evil themselves, don’t believe in the good nature of another person. Knowing their own hearts they think every slave equally wicked.

Kindness is another major issue but it results differently in the two cases. Little is known of the original owner of San Dominick, Don Alexandro Aranda, but he was the one who brought upon himself his own fate. Leaving the slaves to walk around freely lead to their mutiny and the captain’s death. Captain Delano also almost becomes the victim of his kindness, for he can’t see the danger. It’s arguable how kind both of these characters are, especially Aranda, but in both cases kindness as much as it is possible considering, leads to nothing good. The slaves use it as a weakness to help them gain their freedom.

In "Uncle Tom's Cabin" everything revolves around kindness, almost all of the slaves described at one point or another had a kind master whom they remember well and are grateful. Every slave in Selby’s and St. Clare’s households is treated as a human and is respected for his qualities. The slaves themselves have nothing to do with the people aboard San Dominick- they are kind, religious, obedient and thankful to their nice masters because they know it could be much worse. It is clearly said that those who are bad, who drink or show equal cruelty towards theirs race as the withe men, are merely the victims of injustice and can be reformed with kindness and good will. Little Topsy, convinced by everybody she’s bad because she’s black, acts badly because she believes it , but thanks to little Eva’s love and Miss Ophelia’s care, she becomes good, though not overnight. Even Kimbo and Sambo equally evil as their master Legree, at the end are touched by Uncle Tom’s behavior. Cassy who is driven crazy to the point where she wants only to kill her tormentor, gives up her revenge. Tom Loker - the slave hunter is not left for dead, although it would be justifiable. After he is healed by the Quakers, he becomes miraculously transformed, and stays with Quakers instead of returning to his old life. Kindness to Stowe is a cure for everyone and everyone, even the cruelest is entitled to redemption.

However there could hardly be comparison between Melville’s and Stowe’s slaves. The first ones were free not a while ago. They were taken and put on a ship, reduced to cattle. A transatlantic journey can bring out the worse in people even if they are free and those people, born free, still remembering their home and dreading the future, have nothing to lose. They are the closest thing to the American’s notion of savage – dirty, and exhausted, very different in looks and beliefs from the white man. The only thing that is universal is the care of the little ones and even then a mother is reduced to a "doe" caring for her "fawn". The slaves’ fight for freedom is cruel, savage and brings out the worst in their nature, but clearly here the savageness comes from the point of view. If they were white Christian man and women, wearing "normal" clothes, armed with rifles and knives, their fight would be heroic, even if equally cruel. And Babo their leather would be commendable for his wits and bravery.

On the other hand we have Stowe’s slaves- born slaves, brought up amongst white people, wearing decent, although simple clothes, speaking the same language and believing in the same God. They are as alike to their masters as they can be. Their beautiful children are treated as toy poodles – dressed up pretty and made to entertain. In these conditions we are much more likely to sympathize – those slaves have nothing savage about them, they are mirror reflections of their masters. Their notion of freedom is as distant as Canada or as abstract and uncertain as a promise of being freed at some point in future by the benevolent master. Even George Harris who actively fights for his family’s freedom is intelligent, good willed and don’t want to hurt anybody, he just wants to leave as peacefuly as possible and even helps his enemy the slave hunter, because he thinks it wrong to leave him die. Uncle Tom doesn’t even have the desire to run away from his cruel master. He obeys and suffers and is a good and proper Christian till his very end.

Next to George’s nobility and bravery and Uncle Tom’s strength of character we have the starving savage people who murdered their enslaver and left his skeleton as a warning. Hardly any of those high class ladies will be as willing to sympathize at that sight. At first even the kind Miss Ophelia, although well-meaning feels disgust at the touch of Topsy, and she is a mere child. Her reaction to the dangling corpse of the Spaniard would have been that of terror. The mutiny is understandable; the acts of evil as they are seen by most readers, are brought by the even crueler fate that in store for the slaves, but hardly can an observer, no matter how sympathizing can feel as much for them as for Stowe’s tormented souls. Melville’s novella can be seen as a warning, a brutal wake- up call. He does not excuse what has happened but he puts it upfront for the world to see in that the future of a country that keeps slaves. In that sense the lack of kindness and humanity in "Benito Cereno" serves its purpose – it makes the whole thing even more shocking thinking that if there is a rebellion there will be no kindness to the masters and that they will be reduced to the position of servitude.

The reason that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is so much more beloved is probably because it gives us the hope of a brighter future. Young master George, in memory of his friend the slave Tom, sets all of his slaves free, but allows them to stay as his servants so that he can teach them their rights and prepare them for their lives as free people. The protagonist Tom dies, because it is not in his kind nature to fight against oppression. This can be seen as a criticism towards the Church for it makes the slaves so docile and obedient, they cannot rebel. Uncle Tom has no future in this world, his loyalty is his death; the future is for George and Elisa Harris who break the laws thy think unjust and mange to escape and receive their freedom.

No matter how different, both works of literature have something in common – seeing slavery as evil. It may bring out the worst in people, or it may turn them into passive and submissive creatures with no hope for a better life, but whatever the future the current path is the wrong one. The slavery can’t be undone, but responsibility should be taken, not only to ensure the slaves’ freedom, but also to teach them how to use it.

Sources:

Gates, Henry Louis; and Hollis Robbins. "The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin" WW. Norton. ISBN 0-393-05946-4

Weinstein, Cindy. The Cambridge Companion to Harriet Beecher Stowe, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Delbanco, Andrew. Melville: His World and Work. New York: Knopf, 2005. ISBN 0-375-40314-0

McCall, Dan. Melville's Short Novels: Authoritative Texts, Contexts, Criticism. New York, NY: Norton, 2002.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/uncletom/themes.html

http://www.gradesaver.com/benito-cereno/

http://www.gradesaver.com/uncle-toms-cabin/