What to think of Uncle Tom

In class we debated on whether or not Uncle Tom's character was noble or if he let himself be too controlled. My first opinion of him was that he was noble. I thought of him as one who took the "bullet", even when times got hard, so that others would not be hit. I thought of him as someone who is full of morality, has a humble spirit, and is inspirational.
The more we talked about it in class, I think a lot differently about him. Not that I don't think he's a good guy, but I definitely think he lets himself be too controlled. He is honest, but too submissive. When Eliza left with her son because there were about to be sold, Tom stayed back. The reason seemed to be that he didn't want the whole farm to be sold, and that's noble. Part of me wonders if he stayed back mostly because he was crippled by fear. He hasn't known life much different, rather than being a slave on the Shelby's farm, and I could see how it could be hard to let that go. Another instance he seems too controlled is when he jumps into the water to save the Eva. This is very noble, but it also made me wonder if he did it to serve the white men on the boat. This could be a very harsh statement, but I also think that he was pushed around too much. II don't want to seem like I'm down-looking Tom's character.'m glad he saved Eva, but I just wish (not in this instance though) he would stand up for himself.