Uncle Tom's Cabin Volume 2, Chapter 22 Summary
The Grass Withereth—the Flower Fadeth
Two years pass while Tom bonds his affections to Little Eva, whose mysterious frailty and spiritual talk reveal a deeper illness and prophetic temperament.
Summary
Life moves on in small measures for Uncle Tom; two years pass with him enduring separation from home yet finding consolation in faith, letters from Master George, and the companionship of Little Eva. Tom treasures a letter from George detailing domestic news—Aunt Chloe’s hired work, Mose and Pete thriving, the baby learning to toddle—and sits often with Eva, who attracts him with reading and innocent spiritual imaginings. Their friendship deepens: Tom delights in bringing flowers and treats, and Eva, a keen reader of the Bible, returns his devotion with deep, childish piety.
The St. Clare household is spending the summer at their villa on Lake Pontchartrain, described in golden sunset imagery as Eva reads from Revelation and identifies the lake with a “sea of glass, mingled with fire.” Their Sunday evening conversation grows intense as Eva speaks of seeing “spirits bright” and declares, “I’m going there.” Tom notices signs of decline in Eva—thinner hands, a dry cough, shortness of breath—and though Miss Ophelia suspects something serious, St. Clare dismisses the worry as mere growth. Eva’s mind, meanwhile, ripens into unchildlike reflections: she questions why servants are not taught to read, imagines selling her mother’s jewels to buy freedom and schooling for the enslaved, and begins teaching Mammy to read. Marie rebukes Eva’s ideas as childish and impractical, but Eva persists in small acts of compassion, marked by a quiet, otherworldly resolve.
Key events
- Two years pass; Tom receives and treasuringly studies George Shelby's letter.
- Tom and Little Eva deepen their affectionate companionship through reading and gifts.
- The St. Clare family moves to their lakeside villa for the summer.
- Eva reads Revelation and interprets the lake as a 'sea of glass, mingled with fire.'
- Eva speaks of seeing angels and says 'I'm going there,' alarming Tom.
- Miss Ophelia fears Eva's cough; St. Clare downplays it despite growing concern.
- Eva expresses desire to teach servants to read and begins giving Mammy lessons.
Analysis
This chapter advances the novel’s emotional and moral core by intensifying Tom’s devotion and introducing an elegiac tone through Eva’s fragile spirituality. The narrative juxtaposes ordinary domestic detail (George’s letter, garden life, Marie’s jewels) with transcendent imagery (sunset, lake as 'sea of glass'), reinforcing the novel’s recurrent contrast between earthly cares and heavenly longings. Eva functions as a moral catalyst: her unformed but sincere convictions—about reading, the Bible, and the dignity of the enslaved—expose societal hypocrisies and prompt small acts of resistance (teaching Mammy). Tom’s affection and protective instincts illuminate his patience, gentleness, and spiritual steadiness, qualities that the narrator repeatedly sanctifies.
Narratively, Stowe uses intimate scenes and interior reflection to foreshadow trouble: the recurring notice of cough, Ophelia’s medical intuition, and St. Clare’s denial create mounting tension. Symbolically, the lake at sunset and Eva’s readings from Revelation fuse Christian eschatology with natural imagery to heighten sacred atmosphere, marking Eva as a liminal figure between life and an implied beyond. The chapter’s tone—tender, foreboding, morally insistent—prepares readers for changes in household dynamics and deepens thematic threads of compassion, education, and the moral contradictions of slavery within a cultivated family setting.
Important quotes
“Life passes, with us all, a day at a time; so it passed with our friend Tom, till two years were gone.”
NarratorOpens the chapter by summarizing the slow passage of time and Tom’s resigned patience during separation from his home.
“And I saw a sea of glass, mingled with fire.”
Eva (reading)Eva reads Revelation aloud and immediately identifies the lake with the biblical image, linking natural scene to spiritual vision.
“I’m going there.”
EvaEva declares her own impending departure for the heavenly realm, a moment that alarms Tom and signals her increasing physical frailty.
Characters in Volume 2, Chapter 22
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