This Is Why Children Should Read Good Literature
As I continue to celebrate America 250 by listening to the literature in Exploring America, I am snatching moments here and there to complete Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe was brilliant in her portrayal of the heroism, degradation, kindness, cruelty, honesty, and self-deception of human beings.
Title page of the first edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852
While well-chosen literature enhances vocabulary, critical thinking, and other important academic education, its character lessons can be life changing. As an example, think of the lifelong lessons your child can learn from the passage from Uncle Tom’s Cabin reprinted below.
Uncle Tom is a man who has been enslaved since birth on a plantation in Kentucky. Tom’s master is kinder than most and has entrusted Tom with great responsibility. The master has fallen into terrible financial trouble and has reluctantly sold Tom to a trader to pay off his debts. The master’s wife is a devout woman who loves all of the enslaved people on the plantation. Their son has been a close friend of Tom since birth.
Before the trader takes Tom away, Tom gives their son the following advice:
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“And now, Mas’r George,” said Tom, “ye must be a good boy; ’member how many hearts is sot on ye. Al’ays keep close to yer mother. Don’t be gettin’ into any of them foolish ways boys has of gettin’ too big to mind their mothers. Tell ye what, Mas’r George, the Lord gives good many things twice over; but he don’t give ye a mother but once. Ye’ll never see sich another woman, Mas’r George, if ye live to be a hundred years old. So, now, you hold on to her, and grow up, and be a comfort to her, thar’s my own good boy,—you will now, won’t ye?”
“Yes, I will, Uncle Tom,” said George seriously.
“And be careful of yer speaking, Mas’r George. Young boys, when they comes to your age, is wilful, sometimes—it is natur they should be. But real gentlemen, such as I hopes you’ll be, never lets fall on words that isn’t ’spectful to thar parents. Ye an’t ’fended, Mas’r George?”
“No, indeed, Uncle Tom; you always did give me good advice.”
“I’s older, ye know,” said Tom, stroking the boy’s fine, curly head with his large, strong hand, but speaking in a voice as tender as a woman’s, “and I sees all that’s bound up in you. O, Mas’r George, you has everything,—l’arnin’, privileges, readin’, writin’,—and you’ll grow up to be a great, learned, good man and all the people on the place and your mother and father’ll be so proud on ye! Be a good Mas’r, like yer father; and be a Christian, like yer mother. ’Member yer Creator in the days o’ yer youth, Mas’r George.”
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I cannot tell you how much of a comfort—and very practical help—it is to have our son, John, and our grandson Henry with us at Mayo Clinic. John dropped us off at the entrance, sat with us in waiting rooms and appointments, carried things, served as another brain to keep up with detail, and, perhaps most important of all, gave love and encouragement. After our first day of appointments, our grandson made his signature grilled gouda, prosciutto, and sourdough sandwiches.
As my friend Cindy texted yesterday, “So thankful for kids taking care of their parents.”
I pray that every person in every generation of your family and ours follows Uncle Tom’s advice to obey God’s command to:
Remember also your Creator
in the days of your youth . . .
Ecclesiastes 12:1
Note: I recommend waiting until your student is in high school to expose them to the difficult realities that Harriet Beecher Stowe relates in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.