Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Chapter 32 summary

What happens

1. During the journey, Legree stops Tom’s hymn, demands lively singing, and frightens Emmeline with unwanted attention.
2. At the neglected plantation, Legree threatens the captives with trained dogs and introduces his brutal assistants, Sambo and Quimbo.
3. Legree assigns Lucy to Sambo despite her protest and takes Emmeline into the house, where an unidentified woman challenges him.
4. Tom finds crowded, filthy quarters and exhausted workers who must grind their corn after spending the day in the fields.
5. Tom grinds corn for two women, who help prepare his supper, and reads them a biblical promise of rest.
6. Distressed by suffering and injustice, Tom falls asleep and dreams of Eva reading words of divine protection.

In this chapter

What to notice

The promise directly addresses the workers’ exhaustion. Their response exposes the distance between religious consolation and their daily experience of unrelieved labor.

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