Hunted like a deer

Gustavo Quintero
November 29, 2007
English 48A
Journal #24 Harriet Beecher Stowe


Quote:
"The trader caught a full glimpse of her, just as she was disappearing down the bank; and throwing himself from his horse, and calling loudly on Sam and Andy, he was after her like a hound after a deer" (Stowe 1719).


Summary:
After Sam, Andy and Haley have turned around after hitting a dead end, Haley spots Eliza in a nearby home.


Response:
The cruelty and harshness of Haley is very obvious. After he spots Eliza he jumps off his horse and as the above quote says; begins to hunt Eliza like an animal. Haley chases after her like a hunter after a deer. He has her pinned down and he is about to make the capture. Uncle Tom's Cabin may have been a work of fiction but unfortunately going after escaped slaves was not. After reading all this I can not imagine the fear and stress a runaway slave faced knowing they were being chased by like an animal. The quote just reiterates the brutality and harshness of the lives of the black slave. The astonishing part of all this is how the Bird's take in Eliza and later help her escape from Haley.
Haley from the very beginning of the chapter is a very crude and unlikable character. The one action that got me angry was how he demanded to the little boy that he dance for him. The worst part is that this was normal interactions between whites and black slaves.
I can not even begin to imagine what Eliza or was going through while trying to run away from Haley. Worst of all she also has her weaker and slower child as a burden. Fortunatley for her she is given some time from Sam and Andy's stalling and by the hospitality of the Birds. The bond that a mother has between her child and herself will make her do phenominal almost unhuman things