ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Augustine St. Clare, Tom’s third owner and the father of the novel’s saintly child, is an odd and interesting character, an amalgam of traits that we finally find coherent and human. He is a “Byronic” hero, a thoughtful spokesman against slavery, and a reluctant (and at last repentant) materialist.

Detailed explanation-2: -On a winter afternoon in the early 1850s, two white men, Shelby and Haley, discuss business in Shelby’s dining room on a Kentucky farm. Shelby is preparing to sell two slaves to Haley, a slave-trader: Someone named Tom, a capable, honest, Christian, is one.

Detailed explanation-3: -Clare really wants Tom, claiming the high price is because Tom is truly pious. After buying Tom, St. Clare muses what the man would be worth if he were divided up and inventoried.

Detailed explanation-4: -Tom is taken to rural Louisiana with other new slaves including Emmeline, whom Simon Legree has purchased to use as a sex slave.