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ed to impress me strongly. ‘See there, Auguste,’ she would say; ‘the blind man was a beggar, poor and loathsome; therefore, ‘he would not heal him afar off! He called him to him, and put his hand on him! Remember this, my boy. ” [24P234]From this, we can see her trust in Jesus and educates his children with this painting. Such behavior shows that she is a Christian.
2.3.3 Legree’s Mother
She is also a pious, gentle Christian mother. She holds Legree in her arms, singing the hymn piously and reverently. However, her son does not grow as she hopes. Her hard—working nurture cannot exterminate her son’s vicious nature. Like his father, Legree despises all her mother’s exhortations and becomes violent and peremptory. Her heart is broken when “One night, when his mother, in the last agony of her despair, knelt as his feet, he spurned her from him,---threw her senseless on the floor, and, with brutal curses, fled to his ship.” [25]P385 The next Legree heard of his mother was, when , one night, as he was carousing among drunken companions, a letter was put into his hand. He opened it, and a lock of long, curling hair fell from it, and twined about his fingers. The letter told him his mother was dead, and that , dying, she blest and forgave him. From these sentences, we can learn that Legree’s mother’s tolerant. Even though Legree treats her so cruelly, she still forgives him. This also agrees with the spirit in Christianity. Although Jesus is sold by Juda and gives his life, he still forgives Juda and prays for those who sentenced him.
A common trait among those considerate, pious mothers is that they adore Christian and all are against the institution of slavery except that it is not so obvious in the case of Legree’s mother. Slavery is a cruel action in their mind. Most of them are the spiritual guiders for their sons and husbands. To St. Clare, her mother was a direct embodiment and personification of the New Testament---a living fact, to be accounted for, and to be accounted for in no other way than by its truth. To George, when he is forsaken temporarily by the God, his wife always serves as the bright lamp to guide him and restores him. However, to Legree, “That pale, loving mother,---her dying prayers, her forgiving love” [26]P386,---wrought in that demoniac heart of sin only as a damning sentence, bringing with it a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.
2.4 George Harris
George is Eliza’s husband who lives in a neighboring plantation. When he hears that Eliza has run away, he also does the great action. Desperate for his freedom, George escapes disguised himself as a Spaniard and finds his family in Ohio. He is very quick-witted and avoids many times to be caught. He has the tough and vehement character, he would rather die than be a slave. When he is chased by the slavers, he uses his weapon to fight against his enemies. He shoots at Tom－one of the chasers, but he still helps Tom to bandage. Though he is not a very pious Christian, he is also on his way to this direction. He still has a kind-hearted temperament and is likely to become a good Christian. When he takes his family to Canada and studies in a France university, his feelings and thoughts are reflected sufficiently, “When I wander, her gentle spirit ever restores me, and keeps before my eyes the Christian calling and mission of our race.” [27]P450 .
2.5 Qimbo and Sambo
Qimbo and Sambo are Simon Legree’s two cruel overseers who have been trained to brutalize their fellow slaves. Their characters are easy to find in Bible who are crucified at the same time beside Jesus Christ. In Bible, a criminal is moved by Jesus and believes in him; his soul is saved at that moment. In Legree’s plantation, Qimbo and Sambo follow Legree’s orders to flog Tom until Tom is beaten to death. At the last moment, Tom still believes God could save them to heaven and has not any resentment towards them. He says, “I forgive ye, with all my heart.” [28]P429 The two brutal men are all waken up to reality by Tom’s patience and fortitude and ask Tom who is Jesus. Tom poured forth a few energetic sentences of that wondrous One －his life, his death, his everlasting presence, and power to save. They finally plead God to forgive.
3. Character Classification
In short, Christianity in this novel reflected sufficiently. The characters in this novel can be divided into several categories: those who believe in Christianity completely, say perfect Christian figures. Those who don’t have complete faith in it, say imperfect Christians. Those who are going to adopt the belief, say half-Christians. Tom and Eva absolutely should be classified the category of perfect Christians, they are “celestial figures” in the novel. The religious doctrine in Bible becomes the basis of Tom and Eva’s action. They always instruct others to do the charitable deeds and to be a good—natured person. Imperfect Christians 上一页 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] 下一页
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