What happens in the first chapter of the Underground Railroad?
- The Underground Railroad Summary and Analysis of Chapter 1: Ajarry. Summary. The first line of the first chapter introduces the idea of escape. When Caesar asks Cora to run away with him, she says no; a response that the narrator attributes to the legacy of Cora’s grandmother, Ajarry. The rest of the first chapter tells Ajarry’s story.
What is Valentine’s Secret the Underground Railroad?
Gloria is the wife of John, who secretly purchases her freedom before they wed, and the mother of their five children.
What happened to the Valentine farm in the Underground Railroad?
As the Valentine farm is destroyed, Cora is taken by Ridgeway and Homer, though she finally gets her revenge. Cora takes Ridgeway to the underground railroad station below the abandoned house, but as she is descending, she embraces him as if to dance and pulls him down the steps with her.
What are some myths about the Underground Railroad?
5 Underground Railroad myths, debunked
- The Underground Railroad contained actual underground tunnels or passages.
- Slaves used quilted maps to navigate the route.
- Escaped slaves stayed in northern states.
- Slaves traveled the Underground Railroad alone.
- The Underground Railroad was primarily the work of white heroes.
What does Georgina teach the students to recite in the schoolhouse at Valentine’s farm?
The fact that Cora’s class regularly recites the Declaration of Independence suggests that the residents of Valentine farm are concerned with constructing their own version of America, one true to the country’s proclaimed ideals.
Is Valentine farm a true story?
The article uses the novel’s example of Valentine Farm, a fictional 1850s black settlement in Indiana where protagonist Cora lands after her rescue from a fugitive slave catcher by Royal, a freeborn black radical and railroad agent.
What is the motto on Valentine’s farm?
The farm’s owner, John Valentine, is a multiracial man who passed for many years as white and uses his farm as a haven for over 100 African Americans. His motto is simple: ” Stay, and contribute.”
Why does Stevens rob graves?
According to his society, Stevens’ grave robbing is a crime but not the most serious of crimes. Stevens himself chooses to understand grave robbing as a noble calling in order to ease his own conscience.
What happens to homer in the Underground Railroad?
Homer is a young black boy who is part of Ridgeway’s gang. Ridgeway purchased him for $5 before buying his freedom, but Homer still chooses to stay with Ridgeway and even voluntarily chains himself to Ridgeway’s wagon at night.
Who is John Valentine in the Underground Railroad?
John is the owner of Valentine farm and the husband of Gloria. He is light-skinned and passes for white, although he does not hide the fact that he is black among other black people.
How old would Harriet Tubman be today?
Harriet Tubman’s exact age would be 201 years 10 months 28 days old if alive. Total 73,747 days. Harriet Tubman was a social life and political activist known for her difficult life and plenty of work directed on promoting the ideas of slavery abolishment.
Were quilts used in the Underground Railroad?
Two historians say African American slaves may have used a quilt code to navigate the Underground Railroad. Quilts with patterns named “wagon wheel,” “tumbling blocks,” and “bear’s paw” appear to have contained secret messages that helped direct slaves to freedom, the pair claim.
Is Caesar really dead in the Underground Railroad?
While the show doesn’t show us what happens after their encounter, Caesar comes to Cora in a dream later, confirming to viewers that he was killed. In the novel, Caesar faces a similar fate of being killed following his capture, though instead of Ridgeway and Homer, he is killed by an angry mob.
On Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad : Coles’s On Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis
IndianaSummary Royal, a freeborn black man, is in charge of transporting Cora to a farm in Indiana, where she is rescued by a group of African-American men. Royal and his accomplice Red had traveled to Tennessee in order to rescue Justin, another runaway slave who was traveling with them as the third person. When Royal learned that Cora had been taken into captivity by Ridgeway, he decided to postpone their return to Indiana in order to rescue her as well. Once in Indiana, Cora settles on a farm owned by John Valentine, a light-skinned African man who utilizes his white look to advocate for the cause of Africans in the United States of America.
She also attends school alongside the farm’s children as well as with former slaves who are pursuing a higher degree.
After an escaped slave who was near death landed on their doorstep, John and his wife, Gloria (whose freedom he acquired after meeting her on a plantation), decided to dedicate their property to abolitionist activities.
The majority of fugitives that travel through the farm eventually make their way to Canada or another location after they have healed and prepared for their next voyage.
- Cora is unsuccessful.
- Similarly to her experience in South Carolina, Cora is unsure whether or not she should continue north.
- Cora begins to develop feelings for Royal, who continues to work for the underground railroad out of the Valentine farm, which serves as a base of operations.
- He eventually brings her to an abandoned station of the underground railroad that is nearby.
- Royal informs her that he is unsure of the direction the route will take them.
- The author recounts that even though his home was destroyed, he managed to flee north and continue his job with the underground railroad network.
- Sam has received word that Terrance Randall has passed away.
A weekly meeting of the Valentine community is held, which includes feasting, dancing, and special performances by musicians, poets, and public speakers.
Mingo, who purchased his and his family’s freedom, is dissatisfied with Valentine’s treatment of fleeing slaves, and he is concerned that the existence of individuals like Cora is causing whites to get enraged.
Mingo makes the decision to create a discussion between himself and Lander in order to prove his point.
They ransack the property and set fire to the farmhouse, murdering or kidnapping everybody they come across along the way.
Royal’s final words to Cora are, “Go to the abandoned underground railroad station and find out where it leads.” Cora attempts to flee, but she is apprehended by Ridgeway and Homer.
Analysis Cora’s disastrous separation with Valentine is foreshadowed throughout this chapter.
However, there are many subtle foreshadowing instances that occur before this.
Cora is informed by him that she may be the one who discovers the truth.
After all, her internal debate over whether or not to continue traveling from Indiana is similar to the internal debate she had with herself in South Carolina, suggesting that the outcome this time will be the same: she will stay as long as she is able, until fate forces her to leave her current location.
- The option to flee is perhaps more enticing in this situation than it was in South Carolina earlier this year.
- Royal offers to accompany her to Canada.
- Cora’s urge to stop jogging, on the other hand, is much stronger than it was earlier.
- Cora grew up in South Carolina and has remained there ever since.
- Despite the fact that Lander’s claim that everyone should be accepted at Valentine is sympathetic, even Cora realizes that it is imprecise and may not be practical.
- Lander’s point of view appears to be desirable in Cora’s eyes.
It is this conflict in Valentine that reflects an ongoing discussion among free African Americans in antebellum America over the need of “respectability.” A number of people asserted that if Africans born free and legally freed learned to conduct themselves as respected members of white society, they would be able to demonstrate to white Americans that African races were not inferior to white races and, as a result, improve treatment for all blacks overall (and especially for themselves).
Others replied that adhering to the standards of white society was a means of validating the merits of those regulations in the first place.
Because of this, free blacks would be seen just as culpable in the institution of slavery as free white people were.
One of the reasons why many Southern states were concerned about the education of blacks was that it increased the probability of intellectual, articulate, anti-establishment voices like Lander’s being produced and heard in their communities.
During the episode, a character on Valentine says to Cora, “Master once told me that the only thing more deadly than an assassination attempt was an assassination attempt with a book.”
The True History Behind Amazon Prime’s ‘Underground Railroad’
If you want to know what this country is all about, I always say, you have to ride the rails,” the train’s conductor tells Cora, the fictitious protagonist of Colson Whitehead’s 2016 novelThe Underground Railroad, as she walks into a boxcar destined for the North. As you race through, take a look about you to see the genuine face of America.” Cora’s vision is limited to “just blackness, mile after mile,” according to Whitehead, as she peers through the carriage’s slats. In the course of her traumatic escape from servitude, the adolescent eventually understands that the conductor’s remark was “a joke.
- Cora and Caesar, a young man enslaved on the same Georgia plantation as her, are on their way to liberation when they encounter a dark other world in which they use the railroad to go to freedom.
- ” The Underground Railroad,” a ten-part limited series premiering this week on Amazon Prime Video, is directed by Moonlight filmmaker Barry Jenkins and is based on the renowned novel by Alfred North Whitehead.
- When it comes to portraying slavery, Jenkins takes a similar approach to Whitehead’s in the series’ source material.
- “And as a result, I believe their individuality has been preserved,” Jenkins says Felix.
- The consequences of their actions are being inflicted upon them.” Here’s all you need to know about the historical backdrop that informs both the novel and the streaming adaptation of “The Underground Railroad,” which will premiere on May 14th.
Did Colson Whitehead baseThe Underground Railroadon a true story?
“The reality of things,” in Whitehead’s own words, is what he aims to portray in his work, not “the facts.” His characters are entirely made up, and the story of the book, while based on historical facts, is told in an episodic style, as is the case with most episodic fiction. This book traces Cora’s trek to freedom, describing her lengthy trip from Georgia to the Carolinas, Tennessee and Indiana.) Each step of the journey presents a fresh set of hazards that are beyond Cora’s control, and many of the people she meets suffer horrible ends.) What distinguishes The Underground Railroad from previous works on the subject is its presentation of the titular network as a physical rather than a figurative transportation mechanism.
According to Whitehead, who spoke to NPR in 2016, this alteration was prompted by his “childhood belief” that the Underground Railroad was a “literal tunnel beneath the earth”—a misperception that is surprisingly widespread.
Webber Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons While the Underground Railroad was composed of “local networks of anti-slavery people,” both Black and white, according to Pulitzer Prize–winning historianEric Foner, the Underground Railroad actually consisted of “local networks of anti-slavery people, both Black and white, who assisted fugitives in various ways,” from raising funds for the abolitionist cause to taking cases to court to concealing runaways in safe houses.
Although the actual origins of the name are unknown, it was in widespread usage by the early 1840s.
Manisha Sinha, author of The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition, argues that the Underground Railroad should be referred to as the “Abolitionist Underground” rather than the “Underground Railroad” because the people who ran it “were not just ordinary, well-meaning Northern white citizens, activists, particularly in the free Black community,” she says.
As Foner points out, however, “the majority of the initiative, and the majority of the danger, fell on the shoulders of African-Americans who were fleeing.” a portrait taken in 1894 of Harriet Jacobs, who managed to hide in an attic for nearly seven years after fleeing from slavery.
Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons “Recognizable historical events and patterns,” according to Foner, are used by Whitehead in a way that is akin to that of the late Toni Morrison.
According to Sinha, these effects may be seen throughout Cora’s journey.
According to Foner, author of the 2015 bookGateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, “the more you know about this history, the more you can appreciate what Whitehead is doing in fusing the past and the present, or perhaps fusing the history of slavery with what happened after the end of slavery.”
What time period doesThe Underground Railroadcover?
Caesar (Aaron Pierre) and Cora (Thuso Mbedu) believe they’ve discovered a safe haven in South Carolina, but their new companions’ behaviors are based on a belief in white supremacy, as seen by their deeds. Kyle Kaplan is a producer at Amazon Studios. The Underground Railroad takes place around the year 1850, which coincides with the adoption of the Fugitive Slave Act. Runaways who had landed in free states were targeted by severe regulations, and those who supported them were subjected to heavy punishments.
In spite of the fact that it was intended to hinder the Underground Railroad, according to Foner and Sinha, the legislation actually galvanized—and radicalized—the abolitionist cause.
“Every time the individual switches to a different condition, the novel restarts,” the author explains in his introduction.
” Cora’s journey to freedom is replete with allusions to pivotal moments in post-emancipation history, ranging from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in the mid-20th century to white mob attacks on prosperous Black communities in places like Wilmington, North Carolina (targeted in 1898), and Tulsa, Oklahoma (targeted in 1898).
According to Spencer Crew, former president of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and emeritus director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, this “chronological jumble” serves as a reminder that “the abolition of slavery does not herald the abolition of racism and racial attacks.” This problem has survived in many forms, with similar effects on the African American community,” says the author.
What real-life events doesThe Underground Railroaddramatize?
In Whitehead’s envisioned South Carolina, abolitionists provide newly liberated people with education and work opportunities, at least on the surface of things. However, as Cora and Caesar quickly discover, their new companions’ conviction in white superiority is in stark contrast to their kind words. (Eugenicists and proponents of scientific racism frequently articulated opinions that were similar to those espoused by these fictitious characters in twentieth-century America.) An inebriated doctor, while conversing with a white barkeep who moonlights as an Underground Railroad conductor, discloses a plan for his African-American patients: I believe that with targeted sterilization, initially for the women, then later for both sexes, we might liberate them from their bonds without worry that they would slaughter us in our sleep.
- “Controlled sterilization, research into communicable diseases, the perfecting of new surgical techniques on the socially unfit—was it any wonder that the best medical talents in the country were flocking to South Carolina?” the doctor continues.
- The state joined the Union in 1859 and ended slavery inside its borders, but it specifically incorporated the exclusion of Black people from its borders into its state constitution, which was finally repealed in the 1920s.
- In this image from the mid-20th century, a Tuskegee patient is getting his blood taken.
- There is a ban on black people entering the state, and any who do so—including the numerous former slaves who lack the financial means to flee—are murdered in weekly public rituals.
- The plot of land, which is owned by a free Black man called John Valentine, is home to a thriving community of runaways and free Black people who appear to coexist harmoniously with white residents on the property.
- An enraged mob of white strangers destroys the farm on the eve of a final debate between the two sides, destroying it and slaughtering innocent onlookers.
- There is a region of blackness in this new condition.” Approximately 300 people were killed when white Tulsans demolished the thriving Black enclave of Greenwood in 1921.
- Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons According to an article published earlier this year by Tim Madigan for Smithsonianmagazine, a similar series of events took place in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, which was known locally as “Black Wall Street,” in June 1921.
- Madigan pointed out that the slaughter was far from an isolated incident: “In the years preceding up to 1921, white mobs murdered African Americans on hundreds of instances in cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, Duluth, Charleston, and other places,” according to the article.
In addition, Foner explains that “he’s presenting you the variety of options,” including “what freedom may actually entail, or are the constraints on freedom coming after slavery?” “It’s about. the legacy of slavery, and the way slavery has twisted the entire civilization,” says Foner of the film.
How doesThe Underground Railroadreflect the lived experience of slavery?
“How can I construct a psychologically plausible plantation?” Whitehead is said to have pondered himself while writing on the novel. According to theGuardian, the author decided to think about “people who have been tortured, brutalized, and dehumanized their whole lives” rather than depicting “a pop culture plantation where there’s one Uncle Tom and everyone is just incredibly nice to each other.” For the remainder of Whitehead’s statement, “Everyone will be battling for the one additional mouthful of food in the morning, fighting for the tiniest piece of property.” According to me, this makes sense: “If you put individuals together who have been raped and tortured, this is how they would behave.” Despite the fact that she was abandoned as a child by her mother, who appears to be the only enslaved person to successfully escape Ridgeway’s clutches, Cora lives in the Hob, a derelict building reserved for outcasts—”those who had been crippled by the overseers’ punishments,.
who had been broken by the labor in ways you could see and in ways you couldn’t see, who had lost their wits,” as Whitehead describes Cora is played by Mbedu (center).
With permission from Amazon Studios’ Atsushi Nishijima While attending a rare birthday party for an older enslaved man, Cora comes to the aid of an orphaned youngster who mistakenly spills some wine down the sleeve of their captor, prompting him to flee.
Cora agrees to accompany Caesar on his journey to freedom a few weeks later, having been driven beyond the threshold of endurance by her punishment and the bleakness of her ongoing life as a slave.
As a result, those who managed to flee faced the potential of severe punishment, he continues, “making it a perilous and risky option that individuals must choose with care.” By making Cora the central character of his novel, Whitehead addresses themes that especially plagued enslaved women, such as the fear of rape and the agony of carrying a child just to have the infant sold into captivity elsewhere.
The account of Cora’s sexual assault in the novel is heartbreakingly concise, with the words “The Hob ladies stitched her up” serving as the final word.
Although not every enslaved women was sexually assaulted or harassed, they were continuously under fear of being raped, mistreated, or harassed, according to the report.
With permission from Amazon Studios’ Atsushi Nishijima The novelist’s account of the Underground Railroad, according to Sinha, “gets to the core of how this venture was both tremendously courageous and terribly perilous.” She believes that conductors and runaways “may be deceived at any time, in situations that they had little control over.” Cora, on the other hand, succinctly captures the liminal state of escapees.
- “What a world it is.
- “Was she free of bondage or still caught in its web?” “Being free had nothing to do with shackles or how much room you had,” Cora says.
- The location seemed enormous despite its diminutive size.
- In his words, “If you have to talk about the penalty, I’d prefer to see it off-screen.” “It’s possible that I’ve been reading this for far too long, and as a result, I’m deeply wounded by it.
- view of it is that it feels a little bit superfluous to me.
- In his own words, “I recognized that my job was going to be coupling the brutality with its psychological effects—not shying away from the visual representation of these things, but focusing on what it meant to the people.” “Can you tell me how they’re fighting back?
History of the United States Based on a true story, this film Books Fiction about the American Civil War Racism SlaveryTelevision Videos That Should Be Watched
Discuss The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead: When speaking of Valentine’s Farm, Cora explains “Even if the adults were free . Only the children could take full advantage of their dreaming. If the white men let them.” What makes this so impactful both in the novel and today?
Date of creation: October 27, 2016 Replies:5 Published on October 27, 2016|| | Date of Joining:10/15/10 Posts:2732
When speaking of Valentine’s Farm, Cora explains “Even if the adults were free. Only the children could take full advantage of their dreaming. If the white men let them.” What makes this so impactful both in the novel and today?
Cora describes what Valentine’s Farm is all about when she talks about it “Even though the grownups were free of the shackles that had bound them together, bondage had robbed them of far too much precious time. Only youngsters were able to take full advantage of their ability to dream. If the white males would let it.” What is it about this that is so powerful, both in the novel and today? Posted on November 1st, 2016|| |Join Date: June 13th, 2016 Posts:107
RE: When speaking of Valentine’s Farm, Cora explains “Even if the adults were free. Only the children could take full advantage of their dreaming. If the white men let them.” What makes this so impactful both in the novel and today?
The youngsters were still young enough to benefit from an education and find employment in a setting other than the cotton fields. It was as if their lives had been frozen in time due to trauma that had occurred in their childhood. Published on November 3, 2016|| | Date of Joining: 02/05/16 Posts:304
RE: When speaking of Valentine’s Farm, Cora explains “Even if the adults were free. Only the children could take full advantage of their dreaming. If the white men let them.” What makes this so impactful both in the novel and today?
I agree with joycew’s assessment. Cora is well aware that she, as well as the other adults who have come to the farm from slavery, will never be able to entirely recover from their experiences. Despite the fact that they value their independence, they are unable to truly enjoy it. But if the children who have only known freedom do not have to bear that burden, and if their freedom is not challenged or undermined by white people – an extremely unlikely scenario – they will be able to pursue their dreams and will never know how much it saps one’s spirit and hope to be seen, thought of, and treated like an animal or a disposable piece of property, or simply an enemy, judged as a threat or a failure based on appearance alone (as is the case today; white Cora is well aware of this, but Whitehead is well aware that the majority of white Americans are not aware of it, which is what gives this remark, as well as the novel, such much resonance in today’s world.
He is attempting to assist us in seeing our own white privilege through Cora.
Posted on November 11, 2016||
RE: When speaking of Valentine’s Farm, Cora explains “Even if the adults were free. Only the children could take full advantage of their dreaming. If the white men let them.” What makes this so impactful both in the novel and today?
Parents always hope that everything they have battled so hard for would somehow improve the lives of their children and future generations, and that their efforts have not gone to waste. The pursuit of freedom of all types necessitates a great determination, and individuals are determined that social justice will be achieved. Published on November 11, 2016|| | Date of Joining: 04/05/12 Posts:46
RE: When speaking of Valentine’s Farm, Cora explains “Even if the adults were free. Only the children could take full advantage of their dreaming. If the white men let them.” What makes this so impactful both in the novel and today?
Because of their past experiences, the adults have been labeled as slaves. She considers the branding that other runaway or liberated slaves who lived at Valentines had received, and she is thankful that, despite the fact that she bears the scars of Terrance Randall’s wrath, she was spared the fate that so many of her comrades had suffered. She goes on to say that they all wear the scars of slavery, whether outward or emotional, and that the experience will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
The history of our nation, from its founding to the present day, demonstrates that the brand is more than just a dream for Cora.
Our allegation is directed at the black boy who has no hope for a future outside of the poverty and injustice he has experienced. What can we do to make a difference and assist Cora in realizing her dream? Published on November 23, 2016|| | Date of Joining:10/14/11 Posts:136
RE: When speaking of Valentine’s Farm, Cora explains “Even if the adults were free. Only the children could take full advantage of their dreaming. If the white men let them.” What makes this so impactful both in the novel and today?
All of the points made above are correct. As someone who has lived through the atrocities that the adults have gone through, it is plain to realize that they will never be free again. Similar to getting involved in a vehicle accident, you will never forget that event, which is nothing when compared to the savagery that the slaves through. It is not true that the youngsters have been “branded” in either the literal or metaphorical meaning of the word. They can spend their lives with pure dreams of a joyful and free existence.
The Underground Railroad Chapter 10: Indiana Summary and Analysis
Cora finds herself again at a schoolhouse, this time surrounded by youngsters who are far more advanced in their letter formation than she is. Georgina, the instructor, is originally from Delaware. Cora and Georgina are initially antagonistic toward one another, but after a few months on the Valentine farm, the two become friends. Cora has also formed a bond with Molly, a ten-year-old girl who lives with her mother in a cabin on the property, where Cora spends her days. The two of them join the throngs of people gathered around the barbecue: a large Saturday roast was slated for that evening, which would be prepared by Jimmy, an elderly farmer who had escaped to the farm from North Carolina.
- Molly and her mother, Sybil, had escaped from a ruthless master some years before.
- They take up their sewing to do as they wait for dinner to be served.
- She has not received any information about what happened to her own mother, Mabel: when she first came on the Valentine farm, she inquired of everyone she met to see whether they were familiar with her.
- That evening, a potluck dinner is hosted outside the large multi-purpose meeting building.
- The farm is home to over a hundred individuals, including around fifty children, which is a significant amount.
- During the meeting, Gloria Valentine serves as the moderator while her husband, John, is in Chicago meeting with a bank representative to renegotiate a loan for the farm.
- He paid for her freedom, and the two were married nearly shortly after.
Mingosi sits in the front row, advocating for a reduction in the number of runaways taken in by the Valentine farm in order to lessen the risk of white vengeance against them.
Sybil and Cora, on the other hand, are not fond of or trust him.
He writes poetry, and Cora doesn’t like for it, nor does she care for the dance that follows.
She departs the festivities and returns to her hut in the woods.
Cora has been anxious about him while he has been out on a mission with the Underground Railroad for a couple of days.
Cora receives a gift from Royal, which is a newly released almanac, which he pulls from his luggage.
Elijah Lander, a free black man from the North who had received an education, delivered a speech to the farm’s occupants about the challenge of finding one’s place in the world after slavery.
They went on a picnic in a meadow to relax.
On the way back, Royal takes the buggy down a side lane to show her an ancient, abandoned Underground Railroad station that had been abandoned years before.
Ridgeway and the dying Boseman were shackled to the wagon and kept blinded while they journeyed to the Tennessee station of the Underground Railroad, where they were to be executed.
He was reared in Connecticut by freeborn parents who had moved there from New York City when he was young.
He happened to meet Eugene Wheeler, a well-known white abolitionist lawyer, by coincidence and promptly became his assistant.
It was while on his most recent railroad expedition in Tennessee when he came face to face with Cora.
Royal informs her what she may anticipate from the Valentine farm when they are riding on the freshly painted train that transported them out of Tennessee.
The pair kept her freedom as well as their marriage a secret from the public.
A few days later, a fugitive called Margaret showed up at his door, and she died of a fever a few days after that.
His land was transformed into a station on the Underground Railroad.
White immigrants were drawn to Indiana’s unpopulated area by the promise of a better life.
The political conflicts among the town, as well as the white settlers’ rising disdain for the black farm, were not included in Royal’s summation of events.
Cora gradually became used to the rhythms and labors of the farm throughout the first month.
Sama arrives at Cora’s door one day when she is working on the farm.
Sam intends to travel to California in the near future.
In his dying days, he grew obsessed with catching Cora, increasing the amount of money he was willing to pay for her capture.
Cora inquires of Sam about Ridgeway, who has become a social pariah since Cora’s departure from Tennessee.
Sam stays long enough to take part in the corn shucking bee, which he enjoys.
Royal informs Cora that she is now free as a result of Terrance’s death, and that no family member would look for her in the same manner he did.
The evening draws to a conclusion with Mingo taking first place in the shucking bee.
Cora spends a lot of time in the library, and she occasionally brings Molly with her.
John Valentine comes to the library with her one day and they become fast friends.
Over the last few months, the number of racist outbursts from white settlers near the property has grown.
When Cora realizes that Valentine is fatigued, she calls out to him.
Cora is moved to tears by the gift.
As she expresses her regret for allowing herself to be raped, Royal assures her that her suffering is not her fault, and that her adversaries will all face justice at the appropriate time.
In the meeting house the following evening, they take up a position in the first row, right close to Mingo and his family.
The speeches begin, with Valentine serving as the emcee, and he seems uneasy.
They must safeguard their ties with white people if they are to continue their mission for black uplift and advancement.
He contends that they must proceed as a group to achieve success.
They must make every effort to keep the miracle going.
He shoots Royal three times in the back as he runs up to him and approaches.
Cora sobs, her head resting on her lap as she clutches Royal’s body.
Cora runs out of the meeting place, looking for someone she recognizes. Ridgeway jumps on her and drags her away. In the background, Homer smiles with Cora and informs Ridgeway that he overheard Royal describe a tunnel of the Underground Railroad while standing by his side.
Analysis
This chapter is extremely important in the novel because of the way it depicts the concept of freedom. Throughout the previous chapters, readers have followed Cora as she journeys through calamity after catastrophe in her pursuit of freedom and independence. We also learn about her hopes and desires for the future, which include the unnamed face of a future spouse, children, and a peaceful house. Cora discovers a certain amount of independence on the Valentine farm, where she and the other members of the Valentine family labor together for the sake of the community.
- Each and every person’s effort is essential.
- Every single one of these responsibilities occurred on the Randall plantation as well.
- Cora comes to discover that labor may be a lovely thing.
- However, Cora’s role in this free society remains a source of consternation for the time being.
- Trauma has this impact on the body.
- She is unable to relax now, despite the fact that she is at a location where she should be able to do so.
- The farm’s doomed future is likewise predicted in gloomy fashion throughout the chapter.
He hints that she might need to use it in the future, implying that there may come a day when Cora would be forced to run once more.
Even the book itself alludes to the farm’s doom, referring to the tragic meeting as the “last gathering” of the farm ahead of time (279).
Despite the pain she has endured, her identity as a stray is beginning to disappear as time passes.
Cora and Royal are shown holding one other in Cora’s cabin bed, which is a sweet sight.
It is through her voice that Ajarry and Mabel come to life once more.
Despite the fact that the Valentine farm, as well as Cora’s blossoming romance with Royal, are eventually destroyed, this period is critical in Cora’s recovery from her trauma.
The Underground Railroad – Afterlives of Slavery
Keri Wallace’s Colson Whitehead is a fictional character. Overview The Underground Railroad, written by Colson Whitehead, is the story of Cora, a slave girl who escapes bondage in Georgia and embarks on a physical and emotional journey. The Underground Railroad is something Cora is looking for after a particularly traumatic event. She is following in the footsteps of her mother who fled before her, and she chooses to go out with fellow literate slave Caesar to look for it. While traveling over the Underground Railroad in this story, Cora and Caesar get assistance from black and white conductors and station agents as they go farther along their journey.
Colson Whitehead began writing his novel, The Underground Railroad, in 2015, after sixteen years of deliberating on how to address the topic of slavery via fiction.
In the end, he decided on a female protagonist because he wanted to portray not just a complicated mother-daughter relationship, but also the special problems of female slaves who, by the age of fourteen, were typically considered ‘breeding material’ for the colony’s livestock.
This policing is exposed through evidence that is addressed in the novel’s setting, which includes the roots of contemporary policing, the Black Lives Matter Movement, the American eugenics movement, and the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.
In an interview with Time Magazine, Whitehead admits that he’d had the concept for a while, but that Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter movement are part of a “periodic eruption” in which “we truly are thinking about race in a different manner.” In spite of the fact that Whitehead did not intend The Underground Railroad to be a critique on these specific events, the novel is still a criticism on current police violence.
“The patroller required no cause to halt a person of race” and “Rogue blacks who would not surrender may be shot,” says Martin, an agent of the Underground Railroad, as he hides Cora in his attic.
Not by chance, there is a striking connection between the story and contemporary police.
Kappeler, Associate Dean of the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University, “Slave patrols and Night Watches, both of which evolved into current police forces, were both created to regulate the conduct of minorities.” Because of the Fugitive Slave Laws, they were able to carry out their activities.
- Its mission is to campaign against such behavior.
- It is also via the state’s control of black reproduction and fertility that the policing of black bodies takes shape.
- The eugenics movement, which advocated for lowering the birth rates of women of color, first appeared in the early 1900s and gradually faded away as the Nazi affiliation was discredited during World War II (Rivard and Bouche).
- Weinberger was decided in 1974, it was a landmark case involving two destitute African American sisters, aged 14 and 12, who were sterilized after their illiterate mother signed a “X” on paperwork that she assumed would allow them to obtain birth control injections (Bridgewater, 408).
- Because of the social Darwinist ideology that certain individuals were more fit than others, the handicapped, criminals, the destitute, and minority women were singled out for persecution.
The true “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male,” which began in 1932 and was conducted undercover by the United States Public Health Service, with the true purpose of the study remaining hidden from the study’s participants as well as the general public until the study’s conclusion in the late 1970s.
Rather than socioeconomic considerations, these academics felt the spread of a disease that was threatening the survival of the race was due to the lustful appetites of black people, saying that “improved medical treatment could not alter the evolutionary plan” (Brandt 22).
Themes and Design Styles With the intention of providing a “easy way to frame it for people,” Whitehead’s third-person narrative is written in accordance with the time-tested structure of Gulliver’s Travels and the Odyssey, in which the main character is tested through a series of “allegorical episodes,” which Whitehead describes in detail.
- Cora’s varied struggles and tribulations serve to show the different ways in which black bodies are dominated, ultimately leading to her own spiritual enlightenment.
- While working on an exhibit in South Carolina that is intended to provide a look into the history of black lives for white audiences, Cora is subjected to the disapproving and indifferent gazes of visitors.
- Also noteworthy is the fact that white children were present during the minstrel show that was conducted in the “North Carolina” chapter prior to the lynching.
- The museum display and minstrel show are deceiving because they sanitize the genuine brutalities of slavery and eliminate opportunities to create sympathy for those who are witnessing them.
- It all starts with Cora’s grandmother Ajarry cultivating a garden near the slave hut in order to protect the survival of her family.
- When a new slave constructed a doghouse in the heart of her plot without the assistance of the other slaves, Cora slashed it with an ax, with the dog within just escaping with his life.
- In addition to sealing her spot in the Hob, the farm’s cabin for troubled female slaves, her unexpected and violent revenge conveyed a strong message of independence to the other slaves on the estate.
However, after personally suffering at the hands of one of her slave owners and seeing brutality for the final time, she acts on the belief that she has experienced enough bondage despite this knowledge.
Anyone who deviates from the accepted norm is considered insane by the majority of people in society.
An additional tragedy that slavery brought about was the creation of negative perceptions about black women, which made it easier to govern their lives.
Cora was exiled to The Hob, where she joined the ranks of the other insane slave females.
If you look at Cora, for example, she was raped by her fellow slaves because she had no one to defend her and because there were others who were aware she might be used.
E.
Kropp, et al.
C.
Because of the inherent promiscuity of female slaves, they were raped by their masters and later exploited to legitimize the institutional control over their bodies.
It is frequently carried out by an unreasonable white majority in society.
Additionally, the “Freedom Trail” serves as a darker metaphor for all of the martyrs and sacrifices that have been and will continue to be made before African Americans may gain their independence.
Several inhabitants’ comments about the colony’s existence, made before the catastrophe happened, hinted that the hamlet will be destroyed by its dissatisfied neighbors in the not too distant future.
As opposed to approaching or accepting assistance from the two white parties who pass her by, Cora decides to place her trust in the third, an old black wagon driver with “gentle eyes.” As a result of witnessing her loved ones being slaughtered in the Indiana massacre, Cora prefers to go with the black parties rather than risking her life by traveling with the white parties, which the reader believes is the implicitly correct decision.
The Need for Critical Conversation The Underground Railroad is frequently praised for its critical and realistic portrayal of slavery, and it was finally awarded a National Book Award for its eloquent treatment of the subject matter.
The National Review’s senior editor, Jay Nordlinger, acknowledges the brilliance of the prose that Whitehead has written, but argues that the author has transformed himself into a “social-studies instructor, with one didactic paragraph after another.” Cora is reduced to the status of a point of view rather than an actual character.
Following that, Cora’s reaction is a serious, but straightforward acknowledgement that slaves are aware of the damage their numbers bring to the white population.
This reasoning is devoid of any emotional content whatsoever.
A tragic view of history is expressed by writer Kakutani in a book review published in The New York Times, as it applies to The Underground Railroad: “the past is never dead.” “It hasn’t even passed yet.” The themes in the work, despite the fact that they are set in the past, speak to the different difficulties that the black community is currently facing.
Keeping their movements restricted is essential for the survival of young black males, revealing that black freedom is still plagued by the prospect of death.
In tackling these concerns with an unrelenting picture of violence, Whitehead defines The Underground Railroadas a modern slave story, as opposed to other slave narratives.
Because they did not want to risk being accused of telling “inflammatory” or “improbable” stories, the writers did not go into the “sordid specifics of their encounter” (Morrison 87,90).
It is explicitly stated throughout the book about the consequences of slavery, including descriptions of the horrible ‘Freedom Trail’ and appalling slave punishments, that the Underground Railroad existed.
Furthermore, the odyssey-like framework with an unclear finish differs from the continuous joyful ending that is eventually obtained by the characters.
Acknowledging and acknowledging these inconsistencies is an important step in the healing process for the United States.
“America’s Hidden History: The Eugenics Movement,” a book published by the University of California Press.
“Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” by Allan M.
It was published in The Hastings Center Report, volume 8, number 6, on pages 21–29.
Bridgewater’s article “Legal Stories and the Promise of Problematizing Reproductive Rights” is available online.
21, no.
402–414, is a peer-reviewed journal.
Kappeler’s “A Brief History of Slavery and the Origins of American Policing” offers a brief history of slavery and the origins of American policing.
Leigh Guldig is the author of Guldig.
The New Yorker is a publication dedicated to journalism.
Toni Morrison’s “The Site of Memory” is included in Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir, 2nd edition, edited by William Zinsser.
87-90.
“The Underground Railroad: A Novel with a Difficulty Winning a Pulitzer Prize.” National Review, vol.
18, pp.
National Review, 11 April 2017, available at nationalreview.com.
Dr.
Volscho’s article, “Sterilization Racism and Pan-Ethnic Disparities of the Past Decade: The Continued Encroachment on Reproductive Rights,” was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
25, no.
17–31 in Wicazo Sa Review, vol.
1, 2010.
“6 Questions for Colson Whitehead, Author of The Underground Railroad.” Radhika Jones conducts an interview time.com/4447972/colson-whitehead-the-underground-railroad/ on August 11, 2016.
Colson and Whitehead A conversation with Colson Whitehead on abolitionists, success, and writing the novel that scared him to death.
nytimes.com, August 2, 2016, accessed November 1, 2017.
David Bianculli and Terry Gross conducted the interview.
NPR.
Transcript of a radio broadcast.
Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad is a must-read.
Print.
Journal of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol.
1, pp.
Celeste Walley-Jean is a model and actress.
Gender Families, vol.
2, 2009, pp.
Black Women, Gender Families Landman, W.
“Journal of Medical Ethics.” Journal of Medical Ethics, vol.
3, 2002, pp.
Landman, W.
“Journal of Medical Ethics.” Journal of Medical Ethics, vol.
3, 2002, pp.
“The Mules of the World,” by Stacey Patton, is available online.
A review of the book in The Women’s Review of Books, vol. 28, no. 1, 2011, pp. 3–5. Keywords Stereotypes of Black Females Freedom for the African-American Community CoraSlavery The Underground Railroad is a term used to describe a system of transportation that allows people to flee their homes.