There is
some melodrama, some religiosity, and there are some absurd
recognition scenes at the close. Nevertheless with an instinctive
genius which Zola would have envied, Mrs. Stowe embodies in men
and women the vast and ominous system of slavery. All the tragic
forces of necessity, blindness, sacrifice, and retribution are
here: neither Shelby, nor Eliza, nor the tall Kentuckian who aids
her, nor John Bird, nor Uncle Tom himself in the final act of his
drama, can help himself. For good or evil they are the products
and results of the system; and yet they have and they give the
illusion of volition.
Mrs. Stowe lived to write many another novel and short story,
among them "Dred," "The Minister's Wooing," "Oldtown Folks,"
"Oldtown Fireside Stories." In the local short story she deserves
the honors due to one of the pioneers, and her keen affectionate
observation, her humor, and her humanity, would have given her a
literary reputation quite independent of her masterpiece. But she
is likely to pay the penalty of that astounding success, and to
go down to posterity as the author of a single book.
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