My theme of Dehumanization is shown a significant amount throughout Uncle Toms Cabin and Beloved, however how they do these things are two different stories. In my last posts about Uncle Toms Cabin I made the claim that dehumanization plays a big factor in the novel but was not as bad as it actually was in real life. I had the impression that it was alittle soft on the subject and never got into the gritty details of the matter at hand. For example this quote from the book "He was possessed of a handsome person and pleasing manners, and was a general favorite in the factory. Nevertheless, as this young man was in the eye of the law not a man, but a thing, all these superior qualifications were subject to the control of a vulgar, narrow-minded, tyrannical master. This same gentleman, having heard of the fame of George's invention, took a ride over to the factory, to see what this intelligent chattel had been about. He was received with great enthusiasm by the employer, who congratulated him on possessing so valuable a slave.
He was waited upon over the factory, shown the machinery by George, who, in high spirits, talked so fluently, held himself so erect, looked so handsome and manly, that his master began to feel an uneasy consciousness of inferiority. What business had his slave to be marching round the country, inventing machines, and holding up his head among gentlemen? He'd soon put a stop to it. He'd take him back, and put him to hoeing and digging, and "see if he'd step about so smart." (10) I feel like this quote shows what Im talking about the best. Its a example of where they do treat George horrible for the work he has been providing and just throw him aside like a used machine. However like I said, I feel like its not as bad as it could be. In Beloved I feel like this was a different story. I feel like Toni Morrison wanted to make sure that you felt the horrors of slavery and really made you feel the pain that they went through. Quotes like "But then they shoved him into the box and dropped the cage door down, his hands quit taking instruction."(126) and "Nobody could make it alone. Not only because trappers picked them off like buzzards or netted them like rabbits, but also because you couldn't run if you didn't know how to go." (159) This shows the direct relationship between the animals and the people that are the slaves. This shows that the people see the slaves just like the animals. The author uses this as a direct relationship to show that they are doing the same things to the slaves, that they do to the animals. This really shows the characteristics that I am talking about. Treating these people like animals or pieces of property and not human beings which is really shown in Beloved. As I have said before that in our fishbowl discussion during Uncle Toms Cabin we did bring up this issue on how We had not felt that wow moment yet and then questioned if we would feel this in a distant future in the novel. However we never got that feeling. In our discussion of Beloved I feel we didn't go over it as much as I thought we would however I think we would of all agreed that we felt that multiple times throughout the novel. Then also in Beloved we talked about the idea of home and that as a slave there is no place where you can feel like your at home. Which I feel is really hard because you never felt secure and I feel like you can put this under that category of dehumanization because you cant live that normal life. Your always on the run and you always felt looked down upon your peers and that life will keep on haunting you as being that piece of property and that is just as bad as being treated as a piece of property. I feel like the essay I wrote about and read in my first post comparing Beloved to that other novel really shows the message and I finally got that "Oh Shit" moment Ive been waiting for since Uncle Toms Cabin and I feel in Beloved it brings that and that essay brings it more, explaining little details I took for granted which have a deeper meaning and understanding which I really appreciated.
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