UTC - Chapters 11-17

George Harris was light skinned like his wife and able to travel about the country under no suspicion. Acting like a man of Spanish descent, George obtained a room at a tavern for himself and another runaway slave. While there, his former employer and friend, Mr. Wilson, approached him. The two discussed George's plan for escape, though Mr. Wilson tried all he could to convince George not to run. Wilson agreed to give Eliza a pin for George, in case the husband never saw his wife again. Mr. Haley went to a slave auction and bought some more property to resell. In doing so, he separated a mother from her son. Later, he would part a mother from her infant child and drive the woman to suicide. Haley was indifferent and put her death under losses in his account book. Stowe used these plot points to soften the reader's heart toward the oppressed creatures. The Underground Railroad has been a subject of interest for several years. People would risk their own lives to assist slaves on their way to Canada. Stowe draws on the heroism of that system in chapter thirteen, when some Quakers took in Eliza and Harry. I enjoyed the scene in chapter fourteen that Stowe described with wit. After Tom rescued Eva St. Clare from the river, the ladies on the riverboat competed "as to who should do the most things to make a disturbance, and to hinder her recovery in every way possible (234)." Although the entire book was heartbreaking, Stowe occasionally gave the reader something to chuckle at. Mr. St. Clare, Eva's father, bought Tom from Haley as a playmate for Eva and as a coachman for his wife, Marie. Stowe formally introduced the reader to the St. Clare’s and Miss Ophelia in chapter fifteen. Mr. St. Clare was easy going and uninterested in anything that didn't involve his daughter. Marie St. Clare was extremely self-centered and pampered, but always complained of some ailment or another. Miss Ophelia, St. Clare’s cousin from Vermont, was an abolitionist and strict organizer. She came to New Orleans to assist Marie in her household duties. Marie complained to Miss Ophelia about the way St. Clare treated his servants. She believed they should be put down and made to know their place in society. Miss Ophelia couldn't understand how St. Clare could own servants and treat them the way he did. The St. Clares and Ophelia discussed slavery’s relevance to religion and church. In chapter seventeen, Stowe focused again on the Harris's. George, Eliza, Harry, and some friends set off for Canada but were forced to detour into a range of rocks by a band of pursuers headed by Tom Loker. George, however, was armed and shot Loker when he attempted to catch them. The rest of the whites ran away, though some attempted to help Loker. The fugitives took Loker to the home of a Quaker, where he was well taken care of.