Uncle Tom's Cabin Chapter 3 Summary

  • George Harris visits his wife Eliza and bitterly relates the recent events to her.
  • He says that he wishes he’d never been born and that Eliza had never seen him and never married him because she might have been happy otherwise.
  • He’s been patient, he explains, but he can’t be patient any longer. George is adamant that his master has no right to own him. And yesterday, when his master whipped him unmercifully, George decided he isn’t always going take it lying down.
  • Eliza says she has always thought it her Christian duty to obey her master and mistress.
  • George explains that his situation is different because his master is a jerk, unlike the Shelbys.
  • Then George describes what happened to the dog Eliza had given him. It was the only thing he had that made him happy, he says, but his master drowned it.
  • The final straw, he says, is that his master has decided that George should take another slave woman for a wife, even though he’s already married to Eliza. If George refuses, his master intends to sell him downriver.
  • Despite Eliza’s protests, George explains that his plan is to run away to Canada.
  • After escaping, George hopes to work until can purchase Eliza and his son’s freedom.
  • Eliza cautions George to be careful and trust in God.
  • They hold hands and say goodbye.