How do the Christ figures (think about which characters could represent Christ) in UTC underscore the novel’s basic Christian messages?

Uncle Tom and Eva are the two main Christ-like figures in the novel. Through them, Stowe shows that true Christians sacrifice themselves for the good of others. Slavery, in contrast, sacrifices the good of others (the slaves) for the convenience of the slave owners. Slavery, therefore, is an evil, un-Christian institution.

Uncle Tom underscores a Christian ethic by continually sacrificing himself for other people. He doesn't try to run away when he is about to...

Uncle Tom and Eva are the two main Christ-like figures in the novel. Through them, Stowe shows that true Christians sacrifice themselves for the good of others. Slavery, in contrast, sacrifices the good of others (the slaves) for the convenience of the slave owners. Slavery, therefore, is an evil, un-Christian institution.

Uncle Tom underscores a Christian ethic by continually sacrificing himself for other people. He doesn't try to run away when he is about to be sold at the beginning of the novel, even though he is deeply grieved by the news. Being sold will separate him from his wife and children. It will leave him open to being purchased by a cruel master. Nevertheless, he knows Mr. Shelby is selling him because of the high price he will bring. This will save Mr. Shelby from having to sell many of his ––or even break up the plantation––to settle his debts. Tom sacrifices himself to protect the other slaves. He knows that Shelbys are kind masters and that the slaves there are in a good situation. Likewise, at the end of the book, Tom allows himself to be beaten to death rather than violate his conscience and turn on his fellow slaves. He dies to protect them, the ultimate Christ-like sacrifice. 

Like Uncle Tom, the angelic little Eva has a moral compass different from that of the society around her. She is not old enough to free the slaves or do anything as bold and courageous as Tom does in defying Simon Legree, but she puts the needs of others ahead of herself. She treats the slaves with great kindness, dignity, and love. The slaves all love her in return. When she is dying, she extorts everyone in the room, slave and free, to be good Christians and love and serve one other. 

If more people behaved like the true Christians Tom and Eva, Stowe believed, putting the needs of others first, there would be no slavery.