Who's that Uncle Tom?!

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,3, University of Frankfurt (Main) (Institut für England- und Amerikastudien), language: English, abstract: In this term paper a closer look will be taken at George L. Aiken's play Uncle Tom's Cabin considering the question of the usage of racial stereotypes. The subject will be introduced by quoting a German newspaper headline that stirred a controversy and reflects on how Uncle Tom's Cabin and especially the perception of racial stereotypes had an impact to this day. Here it will also be stated how the meaning attributed to the character has gone through a major change since its creation. In the following paragraph the origins of the story will shortly be described, Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel of the same title, her background, her motivations and the ambivalence of opposing slavery on the one hand while using und thus reinforcing racial stereotypes on the other. The next paragraph will show that the same can be said of Aiken who used the novel as the basis for his play shortly after it was published and adopted Stowe's stereotypes on a large scale. This will be demonstrated on the example of the supposed 'religious spirit' of Uncle Tom by taking a closer look at his religious beliefs and his 'child-like faith' in the different scenes of the play. Here it becomes particularly interesting how he relates to white adults, respective the discrepancy demonstrated between him and people his own age on the one hand, while the affinity of his mind to the one of children on the other. The closing statements will include an interpretation and analysis of the representation of Uncle Tom in Aiken's play especially in terms of Tom's Christianity. This is meant to discover whether he is only that child-like spirited slave or only a tragic hero or whether his personality is more complex and one should use more then a few words for describing his character.