Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin in reaction to her own epiphany regarding the immorality of slavery, which accompanied the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law. Indeed, he has developed a novel worthy of protest literature. With every character and scene depicted in the book, Stowe leaves no stone unturned as he places the blame for the immoral situation in the United States. The author's use of a Northern character, Miss Ophelia, aids the novel's ability to effectively protest slavery and the entrenched prejudice against blacks in America. Miss Ophelia provides a powerful example of the validity of Stowe's argument that it is not the South's sole responsibility to eliminate the system of slavery, but also that of the North. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Miss Ophelia St. Clare is, without a doubt, the most complicated female character in the novel. She is Mister St. Clare's pious, hard-working, Northern abolitionist cousin and is educated, independent, ambitious, and motivated by a certain sense of duty. Since she is single and past marriageable age, she agrees to accompany Mr. St. Clare to his home in Louisiana to care for his daughter Evangeline and do housekeeping while his wife Marie St. Clare is "sick." The reader begins to develop a relationship with Miss Ophelia when she arrives in the South and meets the servants on the St. Clare plantation. She claims to be horrified by Little Eva's ability to kiss African Americans as she "later declared that she had turned her belly" (193). Miss Ophelia admits that she is prejudiced when she says to Mr. St. Clare, “Well, I want to be kind to everyone, and I wouldn't want anyone to be hurt; but as for kisses -” (193) she states that she would never be able to come into such close contact with a slave. Even though she considers herself an abolitionist, Miss Ophelia still has prejudices against blacks. Readers might initially respect Ophelia's work ethic and devotion to principle as they follow her to St. Clare's home where she "in a few days, completely reformed every department of the house into a systematic pattern" (236), but Stowe he uses it to satirize the subtle racism of the North. Stowe seems to think that there were many people like Miss Ophelia who didn't like slavery but couldn't think of blacks as people. He is able to write about such problems through Miss Ophelia. The author recognized that many Northerners were eager to tell the South how to handle the institution of slavery and were quick to condemn Southern practices, but those same Northerners were often unwilling to personally interact with blacks. For example, after hearing the story of Prue's life and death, Miss Ophelia questions St. Clare: “I thought so! –you won't do anything about it? Don't you have some commissioner, or anyone, to interfere and deal with these matters? (244), but in reality she herself does not intend to do anything about it. Stowe appears to be of the opinion that too many abolitionists want slaves to be freed, but sent away or otherwise kept at a distance. In other words, they are satisfied with blacks until they are required to meet them personally. Stowe pointed out that Northern abolitionists are also racist and uses the character of Miss Ophelia to symbolize the hypocrisy of Northerners regarding slavery in the South. On various occasions, Miss Ophelia discusses slavery with Marie and Mr. St. Clare. He questions them about why they keep slaves and reminds them of their Christian duty regarding the treatment and education of their ownslaves. During her first conversation with Marie about the servants, she asks, "Don't you think that the master created them of the same blood as us... Don't you think that they have become immortal "souls?" (201). She is particularly curious to know why Mr. St. Clare continues to keep slaves despite believing that this is wrong. Miss Ophelia even goes so far as to divulge her own philosophy on the treatment of slaves: "You should educate your slaves and treat them as reasonable creatures, - as immortal creatures, that you must stand before the bar of God with. This is my mind” (204). Ultimately, St. Clare gives Miss Ophelia a young slave girl to educate, Topsy. The woman's initial revulsion at the sight of Topsy can be seen as a criticism of the hypocrisy of Christians. "--Something [in his appearance], as Miss Ophelia afterwards said, 'so pagan,' as to inspire that good lady with utter dismay" (261). At first she is unsure about participating in the education of a slave, but she soon decides that it is her duty: "'Well, it might be real missionary work,' she said, looking a little more favorably at the child" (262) . It's a strange experiment in which Saint Clare teaches Ophelia about slavery by giving her a slave of her own. St. Clare allows Miss Ophelia to educate and treat Topsy according to her philosophy without any interference. While Miss Ophelia is teaching Topsy how to make a bed the way she likes, she catches Topsy stealing and demands a confession. However, she is horrified to learn that Topsy will also lie in confessing to things she hadn't actually done: “Why, Missis said I must confess; and I couldn't think of anything else to "confess" (268). Later, Miss Ophelia is humiliated when Topsy admits that she knows that Miss Ophelia cannot bear to love her or be touched by her even though little Eva is capable of doing so: “No; he can't exclude me because I'm black! - soon a toad would touch her!” (302). Over the course of her interactions with Topsy, Ophelia learns the difficulties of teaching slaves who have been brutalized and subjugated their entire lives. He also soon discovers his secret racism: “I've always had a prejudice against blacks... and it's a fact, I could never have tolerated that child touching me; but I don't think he knew it” (302). Miss Ophelia tries to do her best by teaching Topsy domestic skills and catechism, but in reality she is completely disgusted by the little girl and hates touching her. As a result, all his strict discipline fails. The little girl begins to change only when little Evangeline offers Topsy her unconditional love. It becomes clear that, aside from her personal contradictions, Miss Ophelia is truly an honest woman. He realizes where he is wrong, understanding that Evangeline's innocent love has succeeded in curbing Topsy's wild ways where all her stern discipline has failed: “Well, she's so loving! After all, though, she is nothing but Christ-like... I wish I were like her. He could teach me a lesson” (303). Topsy is despondent after Evangeline's death because the only person who ever showed her love and kindness is gone, and Miss Ophelia promises that she will try to love her: "Topsy, poor child," she said, as she led her into the his room, 'don't give up! I can love you, even if I'm not like that dear little girl. I hope I have learned something of the love of Christ, I can love you, and I will try to help you become a good Christian girl" (317). It is at that moment that she wins Topsy's heart. Miss Ophelia asks St. Clare to fill out the documents necessary to entrust Topsy to her in order to immediately secure Topsy as Ophelia's legal property. She declares that she wishes to eventually bring Topsy back to New England and make her a free woman: "I want her mine, that I may have the..