Study Questions

1. Whom does Legree first blame for the misjudgment of beating Tom?

2. What made Legree send Cassy to work in the fields?

3. Why did Cassy return to Legree’s house after laboring in the fields?

4. What does Sambo think that Tom’s coin and lock of hair are?

5. Of what does Eva’s curls remind Legree?

6. What does Emmeline say that she is not afraid of?

7. How does Cassy respond to Emmeline’s wishes to escape?

8. How does Emmeline respond to Cassy’s longing for death?

9. What does Cassy tell Legree regarding her part in managing the plantation?

10. Why does Cassy know that Tom will never break under Legree’s punishment?

Answers

1. Legree first blames Sambo.

2. Cassy argued with Legree over the purchase of Emmeline.

3. She returned to Legree’s house to chastise him for beating Tom.

4. He thinks that Tom has a witch’s charm.

5. They remind him of his mother’s hair, and the moral life from which he had strayed.

6. Emmeline says that she is not afraid of the snakes in the swamps.

7. Cassy responds that the only escape from the plantation is death.

8. Emmeline responds that she considers killing oneself a sin.

9. Cassy tells Legree that she has saved him thousands of dollars by nursing back to health the slaves that he has beaten. She uses this logic to persuade him to stop beating Tom.

10. She knows that Tom will not break under the punishment because of his religious commitment to do right.