Twain vs. Stowe

In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe introduces possibly the most well-known bi-racial characters in literature. While she conforms her Black and White characters to the conventions of the time (Blacks speak with the garbled language of the uneducated while Whites speak with clear and proper English), her bi-racial characters, specifically seen in George (a mulatto) and Eliza (a quadroon) Harris, present somewhat of a conundrum. Eliza  and George both speak with the perfect, flowing, flowery language used to represent Whites. Is Stowe’s depiction of these slaves accurate or has she romanticized reality in order to sell her story?

Mark Twain, on the other hand, depicts his bi-racial characters (who are “less-Black” than Eliza and George) with the broken, garbled language of the other slaves. Roxanne, though only one-sixteenth Black, speaks no differently than the slaves with a more solid heritage.

So, which author is properly depicting the bi-racial slaves? Is it Stowe, the little lady with a message, or Twain, the sarcastic humorist, who can give the reader a realistic picture of life in the 1830-50s?

While I thoroughly enjoyed Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I must admit, my confidence lies with the crass and sarcastic Twain.

Why? Let’s look at the lives of the authors.

Stowe was born and raised in the North—in fact, she never actually lived in a state that allowed slavery. Her story is based on a belief and written from testimonies and distant observation. She never actually experienced or observed the brutality of slavery. Does that make her story less pertinent or her cause less just? No, but it may mean it is less realistic.

Twain was born in a state torn in half by the slave issue. Though it entered the Union as a slave state, Missouri citizens were unsettled concerning the slavery issue. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain creates a fictional story with factual basis. Huck’s greatest struggle rests on his belief concerning Blacks: are they people or aren’t they? He boldly lays aside his life for his belief that the slaves are the same as anybody else and deserve the same freedom.

Kinda sounds like an uneducated version of Stowe’s thesis, huh?

But Twain’s depiction of the bi-racial characters is in direct opposition to Stowe’s—how can this be? The difference exists because Twain drew from personal experience. He wrote of the life he heard, smelt, and felt as a young boy. His dialectical representation can be trusted because he doesn’t use it because of conventional beliefs—he uses the native language of common people to create realistic characters, with all their quirks, that will forever represent the small, river town of Hannibal, Missouri.

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