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oai:keep.lib.asu.edu:node-2029252025-12-15T17:22:25Zoai_pmh:all

202925 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.202925 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ All Rights Reserved 2025 94 pages Masters Thesis Academic theses en Denk, Michael R. Shelley, Trevor Porwancher, Andrew German, Zachary Arizona State University Partial requirement for: M.A., Arizona State University, 2025 Field of study: Liberal Studies This thesis explores leadership through the moral and relational dynamics of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, categorizing its central figures as bad, good, and great leaders. Through literary and philosophical analysis, it argues that Stowe’s novel—often dismissed as sentimental—contains profound insights into the ethics of influence and the responsibilities of power. Drawing on the examples of Simon Legree, Arthur Shelby, Augustine St. Clare, George Harris, the Birds, Uncle Tom, and the Hallidays, this study develops a moral taxonomy of leadership rooted in selflessness and love. Bad leaders, driven by selfishness and heartlessness, use others for personal gain; good leaders fulfill duties competently but fail to transcend self-interest; great leaders, exemplified by Tom and the Hallidays, lead through humility, empathy, and sacrifice, their influence enduring beyond circumstance or status. Engaging thinkers such as Plutarch and Machiavelli, this analysis bridges classical and moral philosophy with Stowe’s narrative to reveal that true leadership is not positional but ethical—defined not by authority, but by how one leverages influence for the good of others. Classical studies Classical literature Management Leadership Love Selflessness Servant Tom Uncle The Least of These: A Leadership Analysis of Uncle Tom’s Cabin