"I've agreed to sell Tom."

Question

"What! our Tom?—that good, faithful creature!—been your faithful servant from a boy! O, Mr. Shelby!—and you have promised him his freedom, too,—you and I have spoken to him a hundred times of it. Well, I can believe anything now,—I can believe now that you could sell little Harry, poor Eliza's only child!" said Mrs. Shelby, in a tone between grief and indignation.
"Well, since you must know all, it is so. I have agreed to sell Tom and Harry both; and I don't know why I am to be rated, as if I were a monster, for doing what every one does every day."
"By why, of all other, choose these?" said Mrs. Shelby. "Why sell them, of all on the place, if you must sell at all?"
"Because they will bring the highest sum of any,—that's why. I could choose another, if you say so. The fellow made me a high bid on Eliza, if that would suit you any better," said Mr. Shelby.
"The wretch!" said Mrs. Shelby, vehemently.
—Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Chapter V

The author's perspective in this excerpt helped the abolitionist movement by illustrating
A.
the day to day life of plantation owners.
B.
the cruelty of treating human beings as property.
C.
the faithfulness of masters toward their slaves.
D.
the hatred of slaves toward harsh masters.

Answer 1

The correct answer is B. the cruelty of treating human beings as property.

This excerpt highlights the emotional conflict and moral outrage experienced by Mrs. Shelby upon learning of her husband's decision to sell Tom and Harry, illustrating the inhumanity and cruelty of slavery as it involves separating families and treating individuals as commodities.