Chapter XV – Of Tom’s New
Master and Various Other Matters
Mr. St. Clare was not
permitted to marry the special lady in his life, and had to settle for Marie;
therefore, the day he received a letter from that special lady who broke away
from her arranged marriage, it was too late, and the honeymoon with Marie was
over. Marie fell ill, and St. Clare
traveled to Virginia to bring back his cousin, Miss Ophelia, who agreed to come
live with the St. Clare’s in order to care for Eva.
Chapter XVI – Tom’s Mistress
and Her Opinions
Marie St. Clare is full of
opinions: she believes slavery to be right, thinks slaves are selfish, believes
they must be put down and kept down (in order to keep them in line), thinks
servants are just a bunch of grown-up children, does not believe her personal
servant, Mammy, should have the same feelings as she when it comes to being
separated from her husband and children, says the slaves should be sent away to
be flogged, and finally, that God has caused there to be different classes of
people; therefore, the Bible supports slavery, too. Meanwhile, Miss Ophelia, a northerner, who
does not think slavery to be right, does not think it is good that her cousin,
Mr. St. Clare, allows Eva to be so friendly with the servants, especially Tom,
which demonstrates Ophelia’s own prejudices.
And as for Mr. St. Clare, not
particularly a religious man, he expresses the hypocrisy of the religious people
who use the Scriptures to validate what they do; therefore, if the wind
changes, they will simply find something else in their Bibles to justify it.
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