Alacrity By Deane Barker • December 14, 2022 • Definition: prompt, responsive, cheerful and ready to help Why I Looked It Up In Uncle Tom’s Cabin: This personage had been exerting himself, with great alacrity, in driving all the flock of domestics to the other end of the veranda. A theme of the book, in fact, is how some slaves in the South exhibited this type of subservience to their oppressors. In fact, the title character – Uncle Tom, himself – was received poorly by some people who claim that his willingness to be subservient, instead of defiant and resistant, was a poor reflection on the state of slavery. Postscript Added on May 3, 2023 From the spy novel eurostorm: Then he nodded toward the distant illumination and said with alacrity, “Those are the coastal lights of Tel Aviv.” Postscript Added on June 11, 2023 From Team of Rivals: Seward responded to Lincoln with alacrity. “I have cheerfully resumed the functions of this Department in obedience to your command…”