The first problem, ironically, is the book's reputation brought about by its early popularity. Dramatic versions over which Stowe had little or no control (and for which she received few or no royalties) appeared within months of its publication, and it is probably no exaggeration to say that Uncle Tom's Cabin, in one stage version or another, was one of the most frequently produced plays of the next half-century. Thus it was eventually better "known" from its dramatizations, which often departed wildly from the actual novel, than from the book itself. The stereotypical "Uncle Tom," a gentle, white-haired old man; the comic Topsy, all pigtails and rolling eyes; syrupy-sweet and saintly Eva — these are the characters we remember, if we remember the story at all, and we may dread having to encounter them in the pages of the novel. Luckily, they are not Stowe's characters, as readers may be surprised to learn. The problem of the "Uncle Tom" stereotypes is soon overcome when we actually read the book.
A second problem, one with a real basis in the book, might be called one of "political correctness." There are probably very few white Americans, if the truth were known, who do not harbor some prejudiced (or, put less kindly, racist) ideas about black people, and especially about African Americans. This was no doubt equally true in the 1850s, although the ideas may have been different. We all tend to be so conscious today of this prejudiced condition (if not always of the nature of the prejudices) that most white writers would think it foolhardy to attempt a novel whose central characters are African Americans and would certainly not undertake to explain to readers the nature of the "African race."
