Customer Reviews

Uncle Tom's Cabin (Cliffs Notes)

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I remember using Cliff Notes in my high-school days to avoid extensive reading and yet to pass the tests/write the papers. However, when it comes to this specific book, I highly recommend that you actually READ this book for the personal benefits you'll get, and use the Cliff Notes for summary and a guide only. Some of the most powerful aspects of this book cannot possibly be obtained through the Cliff Notes version alone. It will be found shocking to many African Americans (and educational for many Caucasians) to discover that Uncle Tom was the HERO of this classic novel, and not a "weakling" by any stretch of the imagination. "Uncle Tom", or its shorter form "Tom", has become a slanderous term within the African American community and implies a weak and Caucasian-controlled person, when in actuality Uncle Tom was a powerfully moral man who was willing to die for his convictions rather than succumb to the will of his worst oppressors. In fact, this book was credited by Abraham Lincoln himself as the catalyst that won his election on the abolition of slavery platform, and the resulting Civil War that followed. "Uncle Tom" became a negative slander one hundred years later only after Malcolm-X and the Black Muslims used it to slander Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who exemplified similar characteristics of strength and courage--from a similarly peaceful perspective--in his approach to the Civil Rights issue. As with the fictitious character Tom, Dr. King also died for his convictions without raising a hand against his oppressors. I highly recommend this book to people of all colors and races because of the lessons of self-sacrifice and courage it contains. Caucasian readers will hopefully learn of the pain and suffering of the slaves and gain a deeper compassion for its lingering legacy today. However, I especially recommend Uncle Tom's Cabin to African Americans, for contained in its pages are stories of love, compassion and courage--by both black & white--that will offset the painful legacy of that period caused by the suffering of so many. May the ignorance of the "Uncle Tom" slander be eradicated from their minds as they read of the courage of this fictitious character--who reminded others of Dr. King himself--and the other characters whose struggles and triumphs are contained in its pages also. I also recommend the books: No Apology Necessary, by Earl Carter, Let's Get to Know Each Other, by Tony Evans, and my own book, which is-- White Man in a Black Man's World (tm), by Richard Vermillion.

Even though long before I had a bachelor's degree, let alone did graduate work on Stowe, I was recognized as an authoritative writer on issues of African American politics and history, I used these Cliff notes when I studied Uncle Tom in graduate school.
Uncle Tom is designed to be read as the sentimental and womens novel of the mid-19th Century it is were meant to be read, to be read in a torrent, in as close to one sitting, to be read to produce the torrent of emotions that it is meant to unleash. A 46-year-old African American political with long experience in real danger in political struggle, I wept when Uncle Tom died in this book, even though I was reading it for graduate school.
Using the cliff notes for this book allows you to read this properly as Stowe meant it to be, as her contemporaries meant it to be read, but to keep up with the details of all the characters and plot devices that literally range all over the United States with implications and discussions going around the globe.

I would also urge you to consult Eric J. Sundquist's book New Essays on Uncle Tom's Cabin (The American Novel) and Jane Tompkin's Sensational Designs. You can find an easy way to get to them by cliquing the see my reviews link next to my name.

Cliffnotes always help you get more out of the novel, but "krazy316," I can't believe you! How dare you abuse cliffnotes! The purpose of cliffnotes is to better understand what you have READ, not a cheap way to get out of reading good literature.
Anyway, cliffnotes is a great way to broaden your "knowledge" horizon. It explains who characters are, their relationships with one another, and the basic plot of each chapter. It's very helpful.

This book helped me pass my test with 100. I didn't even read the actual book "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The CliffsNotes version was enough. The book gives you character analyses and a background of the author in addition to a plot summary by chapter groups. I highly recommend this book if you don't want to read the actual novel.