Stowe Starts a War Anonymous 9th Grade

“Is this the little lady who started the great war?” said Abraham Lincoln during his first meeting with Harriet Beecher Stowe. The reaction of one of America’s most celebrated president is a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe is an effective author, proven by her addressing the reader directly and her uses of allegorical stories to bring forth a clear and convincing argument and prove the unjust doings slaves were subjected to. Lincoln’s reaction was partly because of Stowe shattering the semblance of reality by directly addressing the reader, also known as breaking verisimilitude. The first reason this makes Stow and effective author is because she is able to force her audience to put themselves in the shoes of the characters. There are several times in the story Stowe does this.

One of the many time’s Stowe breaks verisimilitude is when she questions the readers maternal instincts. As Eliza is running desperately to protect Harry, her son, from the claws of malicious slave traders, Stowe asks the readers what extent they would go if it were one of their kids, “If it were your Harry, mother, or your Willie, that were going to be torn from you by a brutal trader,...