[heartwood]

In the Greek tragedies, the heroes bring their fate on themselves. Uncle Tom's Cabin is written in the Christian tradition, with Uncle Tom a Christ figure, his fate set by the sins of the land, dying in another's place, his arms bound outstretched as if on a cross.

[Sherman Logan]

Lots of people talk about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I’ve actually read it. Long stretches of nearly unreadable stuff, but also stretches of quite profound meaning.

A couple interesting facts about the book:

It has never been out of print.

It was by far the bestselling English book of the 19th century, after the Bible.

[usmcobra]

Agreed, Therein is the great rub, Uncle Tom is a Christ like figure and yet his name has become one of the worst things you can call any black man.

It is almost intentional that so many have use this stereotype to twist such a powerful tome for good into the harshest of curses.