Uncle Tom-the perfect slave?

I read 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' in celebration of Black History Month. Although the author was not a black American, I decided the subject was appropriate for that month.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was very obviously an abolitionist. She didn't see any beauty in slavery, as indeed there was none. While Uncle Tom was not always the central focus of the book, he was the tie that held the story together. I at times felt he was a little too cliche in being the gentle, shuffling slave, but he was a character that one couldn't help but love. I believe his only flaw was not his absolute honesty, but his throwing away chances to leave the slavery system. His honor and honesty are more than admirable, but in the end, brutal death is his reward. In his passing, he left the slaves that knew him a little better off and a little less bitter in knowing him so perhaps that is the reward that one should acknowledge.
Although I recommend this book, some will find the sentimentality that laces every word a little repetitive.