Uncle Tom is one of the most powerful characters in literature, and anyone who has even half a heart will be affected by it. 

                Harriet Beecher Stowe tugs on the heartstrings of the reader by bringing death into the mix. Because of the situation at the plantation, she has already obtained our sympathy for Tom. Legree hates him, and the cruelty is unbelievable, but adding death into the mix makes it the worst possible circumstance. Death is the thing many fear today and what really makes Tom so touching is the fact that he is not scared of it. He wants to go, not just to escape that horrible place, but to be with God. The strength he shows is amazing, the strength one could only draw from God, the strength that takes away the sting of death.

                We as the readers are touched by Tom’s godliness as he dies. Even while he is being beaten to death, he has some sort of incomprehensible love for his persecutors and desires for them to know the truth. Weak as he was, Tom explained to Sambo and Quimbo the gospel. Through this all, the only thoughts on his mind are spiritual ones. Instead of being broken, he kept his trust in the Lord and drew his might from Him. We revel in the quiet perseverance of this sweet man;  the attitude he maintains throughout all of his trials astounds us.

                Stowe clearly drew obvious connections between Tom and Jesus. In his circumstances Tom was persecuted – just as Jesus was. Jesus would not deny the fact that he was the son of God, just as Tom would not deny the fact that he had done right by refusing to whip the woman he had helped. Just as Jesus loved those that persecuted him, so did Tom; said he would even, “give ye my heart’s blood” to Legree –  the man that killed him. Just like Jesus forgave his persecutors, Tom forgave his murders. Both Jesus and Tom were beaten and bruised and bled.

If a reader tried to think of one main reason why Tom’s death affected them so much, it may be difficult. Harriet Stowe knew how to move her audience, but didn’t blatantly reveal what she used to move them. Truly, though, the main reason the reader is so affected by the death of Uncle Tom is because of the similarities he had to Jesus.