Uncle Tom manages the Shelby plantation. Strong, intelligent, capable, good, and kind, he is the most heroic figure in the novel that bears his name.
The list of Tom’s virtues is endless. He is a good father to 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 his voice, “tender as a woman’s,” and his “gentle, domestic heart,” you might almost suspect that he is a woman disguised 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 around him. He preaches at the service in his native Kentucky. And he makes the people he encounters, black and white- Prue, Augustine St. Clare, Cassy- feel and believe in the love of Jesus. Tom doesn’t just talk about 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 helping them. Tom feels real compassion for others, as he demonstrates when St. Clare drinks too much.
He is always willing to help- by jumping into the Mississippi to save Eva or by putting cotton in Lucy’s bag. Tom also feels responsible for other people. He refuses to escape from the Shelby plantation with Eliza, because he knows that his sale will make it possible for Mr.Shelby to keep running it, and to save the other slaves. He will not escape from Legree’s plantation with Cassy and Emmeline because he feels that he has work among the slaves there, and he dies rather than betray them to Legree.
God has given Tom an extraordinary ability. He can forgive the evil done to him, even by the beastly Legree. His self-sacrificing love for others has been called motherly. It has also been called truly Christian.
