Stowe "had taught her as even Buddha had taught
kings to respect the rights of her fellow creatures."
It may be noted in this connection that Mark Twain, who was of southern
descent and whose parents and relatives owned slaves, introduces in his
greatest work, _Huckleberry Finn_ (1884), a fugitive slave to arouse our
sympathies. The plot of _Pudd'nhead Wilson_ (1894) turns on one of Mrs.
Stowe's points of emphasis, the fear of the mother that her child would be
sold and taken away from her, down the river.
The story of _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ is intensely dramatic, and it accomplished
its author's purpose far beyond her expectations. When we study it merely
as a literary performance, we shall notice the effect of the handicap under
which Mrs. Stowe labored at the time of composition, as well as her
imperfect conception of the art technique of the modern novel. There are
faults of plot, style, and characterization. Modern fiction would call for
more differentiation in the dialogue of the different characters and for
more unity of structure, and yet there are stories with all these technical
excellencies which do not live a year. We may say with W.
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