74 pages • 2 hours read
Harriet Beecher StoweUncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher StoweFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1851A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 22-26Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 22: “The Grass Withereth—the Flower Fadeth”
Two years pass. Tom treasures the letter he received from George. Tom and Eva have grown even closer. Tom loves her “as something frail and earthly, yet almost worshipped her as something heavenly and divine” (379). Eva enjoys reading the Bible to Tom, especially the Book of Revelations.
The St. Clare’s retire to Augustine’s house on Lake Pontchartrain to escape the New Orleans heat. Eva predicts to Tom that she will be going to heaven before long. Tom reflects on how Eva’s health had deteriorated over the past six months, and how Ophelia had noticed a suspicious cough in Eva that she could not cure. Eva is dying. Ophelia is well acquainted with the symptoms of tuberculosis, but Augustine refuses to even entertain the idea.
Eva becomes increasingly worried about the fact that none of the servants have been taught to read. She wants them to be able to read the Bible.
Chapter 23: “Henrique”
Augustine’s brother, Alfred, visits, along with his son, Henrique. Augustine and Alfred are opposites in looks and opinions, but they are inseparable by their fraternal bond. Henrique is immediately enchanted by his cousin Eva.
Eva is horrified when she sees her cousin hit his servant, Dodo, in the face with his riding whip. Henrique does not understand why Eva is upset. Eva thanks Dodo for helping her off of her horse. Her kind words have a much greater effect on the boy than does the coin that Henrique gives him.
The St. Clare brothers observed the scene, and the two discuss the differences between Eva and Henrique. They discuss the historical precedent of the downtrodden rising up against their oppressors. Alfred contends that he will keep his slaves under his foot for as long as he can. However, he worries that children raised around servants will be more volatile than ones raised around equals. He considers sending Henrique to the North.
Eva is tired out by the day. Henrique, enamored with his cousin, vows to try to treat Dodo better. Eva wants him to try to learn to love Dodo. He agrees, for her sake.
Chapter 24: “Foreshadowings”
Eva’s health declines rapidly after Alfred and Henrique’s departure. Marie, who took no notice of her daughter’s declining health, now uses it, in her typical narcissistic manner, for martyrdom. Eva’s health improves, but it is “one of those deceitful lulls, by which her inexorable disease so often beguiles the anxious heart” (399).
Eva is not sad for herself; she is comforted by her religion. However, she worries for her father and servants’ sake. She wishes she could die to save the souls of all she loves, just like Christ.
Eva tries to have a serious talk with Augustine, telling him that she is not long for this world. She wants him to free the slaves: if something were to happen to Augustine, there is no guarantee that they will find a good master. She makes him promise, especially, to free Tom when she dies.
Chapter 25: “The Little Evangelist”
One afternoon, Marie complains that she has a heart problem due to the exertions she has made over Eva, and Augustine chides her. Ophelia interrupts; she is fed up with Topsy.
Eva talks to Topsy, asking her why she acts so wicked. Topsy has nobody to love and nobody to love her. This stirs Eva emotionally. She tells Topsy that she loves her, and she wants her to be good. Topsy is overcome, and Eva looks at her like “the picture of some bright angel stooping to reclaim a sinner” (410). Topsy vows to try to be good.
Augustine, who had been spying on the scene with Ophelia, remarks that Eva reminds him of his saintly mother. Ophelia admits her prejudice toward black people and wishes she could be like Eva.
Chapter 26: “Death”
As her health continues to deteriorate, Eva is confined to her bedroom, a room outfitted with a multitude of “images of childhood, of beauty, and of peace” (413). Marie reprimands Topsy for picking flowers for Eva, but Eva praises Topsy’s bouquet, wishing that she would bring her flowers every day.
Eva has Ophelia cut off locks of her hair, to be distributed to Eva’s friends as a remembrance of her love for them. The sight is bitter to Augustine, who is still in denial. Eva calls all of their servants together. It is a solemn gathering. She tells them that they must live as good Christians so that they might meet again in Heaven. The servants, who all love Eva, are distraught as they receive their locks of Eva’s golden hair. When the servants are gone, Eva questions her father about his faith.
Eva’s health begins to fail. Even Augustine cannot help but accept that she is dying. Tom attends to Eva devotedly, as do Augustine and the servants in their individual capacities. Marie, however, makes a pest of herself, bemoaning her own hypochondriac issues.
Ophelia notes a fatal change in Eva one midnight. She sends for a doctor and summons Augustine and Marie to the sickroom. Eva’s sleeping face shows “the dawning of immortal life in that childish soul” (426).
Eva passes to and from placidity and agony. It is unbearable for Augustine. Finally, a triumphant look passes over her face. Augustine asks what she sees; she replies, “O! love, –joy, –peace!” (428). Eva sighs and passes away.
Chapters 22-26 Analysis
This section marks the decline and death of Eva St. Clare, one of the most memorable moments in American sentimental literature. Eva’s death takes on a spiritual, almost Christlike dimension; she becomes a symbol for the Christian faith, a benchmark of piety and goodness for the rest of the characters in the novel to live up to. Her death is long foreshadowed; she tells Uncle Tom early in this section that she anticipates reaching the kingdom of Heaven soon. While her death is “holy,” it cannot be compared to martyrdom in the same way that Tom’s death is. Stowe suggests that children like Eva are more suited to Heaven than Earth; because her death is not truly a sacrifice, it is more akin to the assumption of the Virgin Mary than to the violent end of a martyr. The distribution of the locks of her hair functions like the creation of holy relics from the bodies of saints; and, like holy relics, they torment evildoers, as is seen when Simon Legree later handles Tom’s lock of Eva’s hair.
Eva serves as an instrument of moral instruction for all who come into contact with her—except, perhaps, for Uncle Tom, who is the only other character who matches her piety and morally upright behavior. Henrique promises to be better to Dodo, Ophelia vows to try to love Topsy, Topsy promises to stop being wicked, and, in the next section, Augustine realizes the error of the laissez-faire attitude he holds toward life.
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