Another contrast is between the characters central to their respective plots. Tom lingers in the hopelessness and motionlessness of his captivity, slowly losing his faith, surrounded by people as hopeless as himself and taunted by his tormentor. Enclosed on all sides by impenetrable swamp, which has been described as full of insects and snakes, he is powerless to escape. In contrast, we see Eliza and her family, now safe in a network of others who will break the law to help them, easily eluding their would-be captors and traveling swiftly north across a great, free body of water into their own new life of freedom. This scene, which is the last glimpse we shall have of the Harris family until later in their lives, is a welcome relief from the atmosphere of the other plot, which has steadily grown more oppressive and hopeless. At the same time, having had this breath of air, this glimpse of freedom, we feel the hellishness of Tom's situation even more strongly when we return to it: After the narrator's introduction to Chapter 38, that chapter's first scene, with Legree playing the tempter, urging Tom to throw his Bible into the flames, is indeed infernal.
But immediately after we have seen Tom at the nadir of his faith, we are allowed to share his vision of Christ's crown of thorns changed to one of glory. We are reminded that Tom, in the gin-house, asked Cassy to read to him, from the New Testament, the story of the crucifixion. Now, in this vision of the resurrection, the mood of the novel lifts. Just as Tom now feels Legree powerless to hurt him, the reader, too, sees this satanic character somehow dwindling, becoming smaller, even faintly ridiculous, as he engages in silly chatter with his overseers about the fun of catching Tom should he try to escape — and especially as he falls stupidly into Cassy's trap for his superstition. In this section, the novel changes direction: Its climax is not Tom's death but his renewal of faith. After that moment, both Tom and the reader feel that his death is inevitable, and both accept it. But the balance of power has swung from Legree to Tom, and everyone — including Legree — knows it.
