UNCLE TOM’S CABIN

Having run up large debts,
Arthur Shelby, a Kentucky farmer, is on the verge of losing everything he
owns. In this desperate hour, he decides to sell two of his slaves to raise
money, despite his family having affectionate relationships with those two, to
Mr Haley, a coarse slave trader. The slaves in question are Uncle Tom, a
middle-aged man and Harry, the young son of Mrs Shelby’s maid, Eliza. When
Mrs Shelby finds out about the arrangement, she is appalled because she has
promised Eliza that her son would not be sold under any circumstances.Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s ground-breaking novel was first published in 1852. It was
meant as an outcry against slavery. Her book speaks volumes about the
inhumane treatment and racist misperceptions that was meted out to thousands
of slaves at the time. On its publication, the book was an immediate
bestseller and was second only to the Bible.