Uncle Tom's Cabin: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

La Belle Riviere continues down the Mississippi. Tom’s conduct has convinced Haley he is trustworthy; Tom is therefore allowed to sleep without fetters and to walk as he pleases around the ship. Atop cotton-bales on the ship’s deck he looks out on the plantations they pass, slaves at hard labor in the fields, and thinks back on his time in Kentucky. Beecher Stowe states that an educated person would be able to write to his family, but Tom can write only poorly and so cannot communicate with Chloe and others at home.

Tom takes out his Bible and reads, haltingly, “In my Father’s house there are many mansions . . . .” Although there are no notes in the margins of the Bible, Tom has marked up favorite sections from hearing George read to him.

On the boat are a New Orleans gentleman named St. Clare and his five-or-six-year-old daughter, a beautiful, fair-haired, blue-eyed child, dressed always in white, whom the narrator likens to an angel. Evangeline, as she is known, walks all over the vessel and smiles at the slaves, the “firemen” who shovel coal, and others. She meets Uncle Tom, takes an immediate liking to him, and offers that her father might buy him. At a boat-landing Eva accidentally falls in the water, and Tom dives in after her, saving her with little trouble.

The next day, St. Clare does in fact offer to buy Tom from Haley. Haley sets the price at $1300. St. Clare jokes that Tom’s Christianity, intelligence, and trustworthiness might cause trouble and should result in a lower price. In truth, however, St. Clare recognizes Tom’s kindness and Eva’s apparent love for him. St. Clare introduces himself to Tom and promises to make him coachman at his New Orleans estate. Eva tells Tom that her father is a benevolent slave-owner, and that his teaching hides a real concern for his slaves.