Uncle Tom’s Cabin · Chapter
The Stratagem explained
Cassy devises a clever plan to escape from Simon Legree's plantation with Emmeline.
What happens
Cassy devises a clever plan to escape from Simon Legree's plantation with Emmeline. Using the superstitious fears of Legree and his slaves, she stages a haunting in the garret and then orchestrates a false chase into the swamp, allowing them to double back and hide in the garret with supplies for a long concealment.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
The "Endnotes" chapter serves as the dramatic climax because it abruptly shifts the narrative focus from the c…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Resistance and Agency
Cassy demonstrates active resistance and agency by meticulously planning and executing an escape, using intelligence and manipulation to outwit Legree.
- Freedom and Escape
The entire chapter revolves around the theme of freedom and escape, as Cassy and Emmeline risk everything to flee slavery.
- Hypocrisy of American Society
Cassy's scornful remark about stealing highlights the hypocrisy of a society that condemns theft while tolerating the theft of human lives and labor.
Characters to notice
- Cassy
Masterminds the escape plan, using psychological manipulation and careful preparation.
- Emmeline
Frightened but follows Cassy's lead; nearly faints during the escape.
- Simon Legree
Falls for Cassy's tricks, organizes a hunt, and is outwitted.
- Sambo
Eagerly joins the chase for reward, embodying the cringing subserviency of slavery.
- Quimbo
Also participates in the hunt, following Legree's orders.
Key passages
“The way of the wicked is as darkness; he knoweth not at what he stumbleth.”
Evil people walk in darkness and cannot see what makes them fall.
Biblical epigraph foreshadowing Legree's downfall due to his own wickedness.
“I meant to stop your fainting, and I did do it. And now I tell you, Emmeline, you must make up your mind not to faint, let what will come; there's no sort of need of it.”
Cassy explains that she threatened Emmeline to prevent her from fainting, and insists that fainting is unnecessary in their dangerous situation.
Shows Cassy's harsh pragmatism and determination to survive.
“Stealing! said Cassy, with a scornful laugh. They who steal body and soul needn't talk to us. Every one of these bills is stolen—stolen from poor, starving, sweating creatures, who must go to the devil at last, for his profit.”
Cassy dismisses Emmeline's concern about stealing money, arguing that Legree's wealth is itself stolen from the labor of enslaved people.
Highlights the moral inversion of slavery where the master is the real thief.
