Uncle Tom manages the Shelby plantation. Strong, intelligent, capable, good, and kind, he is themost heroic figure in the novel that bears his name. The list of Tom's virtues is endless. He is a good fatherto his own children, especially the baby, Polly, and also nurtures the children of his masters, George Shelby and Eva St.Clare. From Stowe's description of hisvoice, "tender as a woman's," and his "gentle, domestic heart," you might almost suspect that he is a womandisguised as a muscular black man. Tom's most important characteristic, from Stowe's point of view, is his Christian faith. The Bible-which George Shelby has taught him to read- is alive for him, and he makes it live for the people aroundhim. He preaches at the service in his native Kentucky. And he makes the people he encounters, black andwhite- Prue, Augustine St. Clare, Cassy- feel and believe in the love of Jesus. Tom doesn't just talkabout religion, he lives it. Through his example, and then by his death, he makes converts. Religion is very simple for Tom. It means loving all of God's creatures and serving God by helpingthem. Tom feels real compassion for others, as he demonstrates when St. Clare drinks too much. He isalways willing to help- by jumping into the Mississippi to save Eva or by putting cotton in Lucy's bag. Tomalso feels responsible for other people. He refuses to escape from the Shelby plantation with Eliza, because he knows that his sale willmake it possible for Mr.Shelby to keep running it, and to save the other slaves. He will not escape fromLegree's plantation with Cassy and Emmeline because he feels that he has work among the slaves there, andhe dies rather than betray them to Legree. God has given Tom an extraordinary ability. He can forgive theevil done to him, even by the beastly Legree. His self-sacrificing love for others has been called mo...
