CHAPTER SUMMARY AND NOTES

CHAPTER 37

Summary

This chapter momentarily leaves Tom in the midst of his suffering and returns to the tale of George and Eliza, and the wounded Loker. George and Eliza are once again preparing to escape, and the wounded Loker continues to recover under the supervision of the Quakeress Dorcas. After he recovers he is a changed man, no longer interested in catching slaves.

George and his family reach Sandusky, Ohio, and prepare to cross over into Canada. Jim and his old mother have been sent across earlier. Eliza disguises herself as a man and Harry as a girl. A Miss Smyth consents to become Harry's aunt. They board the ferry that takes them to Canada. They embrace each other and fall on their knees to thank God. Miss Smyth takes them to a missionary's house, where they are given refuge.

Notes

After a gap of almost eighteen chapters, the narrative comes back to the George-Eliza plot. This chapter picks up the loose threads of the story. Loker is now a sadder and wiser man. His conversion is remarkable and uplifting. He has completely given up his old profession of slave-catcher.

The scene in Sandusky is full of palpable tension. George, close to freedom, has become thoughtful. Though he has started believing in God, he is still tormented with doubt. Eliza's faith, on the other hand, is as firm as a rock. She knows God will bring them out of their bondage. For George, freedom is "the right of a man to be a man, and not a brute; the right to call the wife of his bosom his wife, and to protect her from lawless violence; the right to protect and educate his child; the right to have a home of his own, a religion of his own, a character of his own, unsubject to the will of another." George is optimistic, but penniless. He looks forward to working for his family.

One of the two plots has reached a resolution. George has succeeded in his attempt to escape to Canada. He is a free man and can hold his head high and work for the betterment of his family. He is also freed, according to Stowe, by his gradual acceptance of Christian beliefs. This is a liberation she hopes accompanies all transformations.

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