I have taught them the duties of the family, of parent and child, and husband and wife; and how can I bear to have this open acknowledgment that we care for no tie, no duty, no relation, however sacred, compared with money?
Mrs. Shelby tries to say that she is a good christian because she cares for them but she still participates in the system and only cares when it is Eliza's son being sold.
She wondered within herself at the strength that seemed to be come upon her; for she felt the weight of her boy as if it had been a feather, and every flutter of fear seemed to increase the supernatural power that bore her on, while from her pale lips burst forth, in frequent ejaculations, the prayer to a Friend above—“Lord, help! Lord, save me!”
Eliza has braved everything that is happening to her, but it dulls when she is rushing to save her son. When it comes to a mother protecting her child, adrenaline takes over and any pain or cold is nothing compared to finding safety.
“Well,” said Eliza, mournfully, “I always thought that I must obey my master and mistress, or I couldn’t be a Christian.”
It shows how religion is only used as a tool for white slavers to have obedience for their own advantages.
the religious teaching consists in teaching the slave that he must never strike a white man; that God made him for a slave; and that, when whipped, he must not find fault,—for the Bible says, “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes!” And slaveholders find such religion very profitable to them.
this part shows the horrors on how oppressors use religion. Using religion as a way to make profit and teaching that to the oppressed because they believe it is "God's will."
But as soon as the subject came to my mind, I resolved on adopting my old name of William, and let Sandford go by the board, for I always hated it. Not because there was anything peculiar in the name; but because it had been forced upon me
by taking up his own name and no longer calling himself the name that he was forced with, he is taking back something that is his, even sounding it out to get used to it.
He told her that if she would accept his vile proposals, he would take her back with him to St. Louis, and establish her as his housekeeper at his farm. But if she persisted in rejecting them, he would sell her as a field hand on the worst plantation on the river.
this shows the sexual abuse and violence towards them as Mr. Walker tries to intimidate Cynthia by selling her to a worse plantation if she rejects him.