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Praxis Journal Entry 11 -- 11/20/16

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There is nothing I like about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I have nothing nice to say about it. I read part of it in 8th grade and now I’m remembering why I disliked it so much. What bothers me almost as much as Stowe’s racism (because it is racist) is how sappy-sweet it is. I don’t know if this is characteristic of mid-19th century American novels or not, but my goodness. I’m trying to mark all the passages in the novel where someone is crying, and I’m already running out of post-it notes. No one exemplifies the sugary-sweetness of Uncle Tom’s Cabin more than Evangeline St. Clare, the only daughter of Augustine and Marie St. Clare. I could go on for days about how much I dislike Evangeline’s character, and she’s not the antagonist.

I think the purpose of her character is to show her parents and the reader how Christianity (Protestant Christianity, that is) is and should be a powerful force against slavery. Even though she was a child, I think her character was also supposed to represent the ideal of white, Christian, middle-class womanhood: a pious, gentle, and charitable woman who loved and cared for not only her family, but everyone in her household and really the whole world. Evangeline did love everyone in her family, including the slaves, and always tried to show them patience, and kindness as the Bible commands of Christians. She cared deeply for the immortal souls of her family and slaves and exhorted them to read their Bibles and pray for salvation.

She was only member of the St. Clare household who showed genuine affection for Topsy, a slave girl who suffered from abuse and neglect early in life and had severe behavioral problems. With a healthy dose of tears, Evangeline assured Topsy that she loved her, “because you [Topsy] haven’t had any father, or mother, or friends—because you’ve been a poor, abused child! I love you, and I want you to be good” (p.258). As Topsy began to cry, Eva comforted her and asked her, “don’t you know that Jesus loves all alike? He is just as willing to love you, as me. He loves you just as I do—only more, because he is better. He will help you to be good; and you can go to Heaven at last, and be an angel forever” (p.258).

I don’t have a clear answer as to why I dislike Evangeline’s character so much. Something about her appearance and behavior just makes me uncomfortable. Of course I know Evangeline is a fictional character and everything she says or does is to further the plot of the novel, develop her character, or make a point. (I also remember hearing in class that mid-19th century novels weren’t much concerned with realism.) I think Evangeline’s character is too perfect and that’s what’s off-putting—she has no faults, no backstory, and a very one-dimensional personality. 

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