We will discuss Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad at our meeting on Wednesday, May 30th at 4:00p.m. in the GAHS library. Please post questions, comments, concerns, criticism, and the like on this blog prior to, during, or after our meeting (before June 6th if you want extra credit). All questions and responses should indicate an active reading of the text and function to move the conversation forward. (Note: surface-level or obvious questions and responses will not count as participation.)
Those of you unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts may participate in the discussion below by posting a discussion question and offering a detailed response, or by responding to two questions already posted. The note above applies here as well, so heed it!
What is the main representation of the Underground Railroad that Whitehead brings to life as well as the states that the train goes through? What is a possible reason for Whitehead creating an actual underground running train rather than maintaining the historical Underground Railroad networks in his novel? How do both the fictional and historical railroad compare?
One of the things that I found very interesting about this novel was how Whitehead chose to take the idea of the real Underground Railroad network, but create it into an actual train that runs underground. I think that Whitehead makes the underground railroad an actual railroad that a train runs on in order to illustrate how it literally drove slaves in the direction of freedom and when most people hear the term “underground railroad,” they usually imagine a real life railroad, so this novel brings that imagery to life. As the book went along, I noticed that each state that the underground railroad takes Cora through represents new opportunities and possibility as well as showing how slavery differed throughout states. Each state that the train arrives at, the book displays how slavery was treated differently in that state during this time period. Whitehead shows how Cora worked on plantations in Georgia, then she was given more opportunity when she got to South Carolina, and then when she arrived in North Carolina, African Americans were basically banned- this all illustrates the different aspects of slavery’s history. When Cora arrived at each state, there was a possibility of her to find justice. I was personally impressed with the novel because Whitehead was able to create this fictional story of a slave’s journey to find freedom as well as containing fictional components (the underground railroad), but also make it incredibly real and relating to the struggles of slaves during the era of slavery. Though Whitehead turns the historical railroad into a fictional functioning train, both of the railroads assist African Americans to escape slavery and find freedom.
Q: What is the significance of Cora’s Mom, Mabel?
A: Although it seems very selfish of Mabel to run away and leave her daughter alone, it shows how desperate the situation was. Mabel selfishly knew that bringing along her daughter would make it easier to be caught but it was her last hope. It could also exemplify her running away from her failures, as she failed to protect her daughter from slavery and would not be able to prevent her from being raped or abused. Whether Mabel ran away or not would not stop the events but she wouldn’t have to watch helplessly. It could have also been that children and parents were often separated by slavery, so Mabel and Cora may not have established a strong and attached relationship with the large possibility of being separated. Therefore, it might not have been as hard for Mabel to leave Cora. I thought this could have been the case until Mabel decided to come back for Cora. In the end it was also evident that Mabel wanted to run away to give Cora the idea of freedom and to run away as well. When the mother ran away Cora was left with the garden that could connect Cora to her family and mother. The garden symbolized a place of refuge in such a dark place.
The book is sectioned in an interesting way that allows the reader to have a more comprehensive perspective of the events at hand. The core of the book is Cora, so her perspective dominates the novel. However, there are little sections told from the perspective of the slave hunter, Ethel, and others so the reader can truly understand how something that seems so detached from the world today could occur. When Terrance forces the slaves to dance for them, it reminds me of the events in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Although the film is seen as comical and centers around “toons” (cartoon characters), the disparity between the cartoon characters and humans is meant to mirror the disparity between African Americans and white people. The “toons” are forced to dance for the humans against their will, like the slaves are forced to dance for Terrance. It shows that the slaves were seen as objects of Terrance’s entertainment, not human beings. Although dancing is seen as a cheerful activity, the contrast between Terrance’s forceful nature and dancing emphasizes the terror of the moment. We talked about in class how African Americans learned to “laugh to keep from crying”, I think this is displayed when Jasper will not stop singing hymns. It is his way of staying true to himself even in the toughest of circumstances, and not letting the violence of his perpetrators corrupt his spirit. This is contrasted with Homer, who is obsessed with being submissive to Ridgeway and upholding his duty as a slave even though he is technically free. This reminded me of the many women who were against the suffrage movement simply because they could not wrap their minds around the change. They were secure in what they knew, and so is Homer.
How does Whitehead’s use of a third person perspective help develop the story overall?
Well as I was reading, I found it very interesting that the author decided to tell the story of Cora in a third person perspective. One would think that to go along with the story line of her escape from the plantation that it would be written from her view, but Whitehead took a very different approach to help develop a full picture. The use of the third person narrative helped to explain more of what was going on than in the limited view of that of the main character. Even with this perspective, the author was able to add other perspectives to help the story line come full circle as we tried to get an idea of what was going on in Cora’s limited view of her world. In retrospective, it may not seem like it would be the best idea to write in that perspective for that type of story, but after reading, it wouldn’t make sense any other way. This narrative helped Whitehead to fill in the blanks of Cora’s experience and also made the reader’s experience more realistic for such things like her being unable to read and write in the beginning of the story.
I do agree with you that the third person narration helps to develop the story. However, Cora is unable to really open up to the reader. We never truly get to know her feelings or her past. We only know such things because of flashbacks and other psychological breaks. Also the story is told in a third person limited point of view meaning it is from Cora’s perspective but it is not directly told form her, it is almost as if we are floating above Cora the entire time. I like however that we get to view different plot points through Cora’s perspective and it is nice to see her grow from someone who is timid to someone who has truly found her voice and freedom. I also like how we not only see the story from Cora’s perspective; I enjoyed learning about Dr. Stevens; he seems to want the people to do what they want but because bodies are so expensive he grave robs and he pushes the women to get a procedure done so that he can practice some more. I also thought it was interesting to get Ridgeway’s point of view so that I could understand why he wanted to be a slave catchers and to understand why he had such a obsession with Cora- because of her mother.
What is the significance of the transfer of power, from the older generation to the younger generation, on the Randall Plantation?
The transition of power represented a split in southern society during the time period, James, the younger brother, represented the people of the south that began to see the wrongs of owning a person. James no longer carried the tradition of raping his female slaves, and he allowed them to have traditions, and build bonds with one another. Even with this unsettling idea beginning to set in slavery persisted because of the economic value. The other brother, Terrance, took on the traditional thought of the time that the slaves actually benefited from being there and treated them as if they owed him everything, because of this he continued to whip his slaves for slight transgressions, and he even eventually ended up raping/ claiming Cora. I believe Mr. Whitehead’s comment through this appears to be about the greed of people, no matter the manor of the person kind, rude, mean, caring, no matter what it is greed of monetary value will always persist, and this is why both sons perpetuated the use of slavery.
I feel as if as time progresses and the transfer of power continues, the harsh conditions of the older generation that are already imminent will go away as the newer generations learn to respect people more. The changes happening in the book also correlate to United States history as when the generations past slavery was abolished with the 13th amendment and so forth. Going back to The Underground Railroad, the viewpoints of Homer with obeying the unethical order of Ridgeway compared to Cora exemplifies this. The same applies with James as well, and I agree with the split in the society, but I feel like the split in power comes from what they believed was the ethics behind slavery, and that changed with time.
Q: What is the significance of Homer, Ridgeway, and their relationship?
A: Homer represents the slave ideal, lacking of ideas of freedom and an extreme willingness to serve Ridgeway, shown through his willingness to chain himself at night and to follow Ridgeway with no resistance. Homer represents what white slave owners believe of their slaves, that they, in general, have no potential to be anything other than economic value to their owners; when in reality many slaves seek something more/greater (shown through Cora and the Underground Railroad). Ridgeway is the symbol of the general white slave owner, a pure evil who takes pleasure in degrading other people for economic benefit. The relationship between Homer and Ridgeway with the contrast of Cora could introduce an aspect of fighting the social norm and racist thought that continued in history long after the setting of the story. Whitehead (as I found in an interview) recalls a memory of being handcuffed after a white woman was mugged blocks away from him, and spoke about his father preparing him for this reality, which I think is what was indirectly addressed by Homer and Ridgeway’s relationship.
Here is the interview: https://www.npr.org/2016/11/18/502558001/colson-whiteheads-underground-railroad-is-a-literal-train-to-freedom
I totally agree with you here. Homer is what many people think slaves feel toward their masters. Many white people who didn’t own slaves believed that those slaves loved their masters because they gave them food, work, and “a better life.” Although this is untrue it was believed by many. Homer may have also felt that he deserved to give back to Ridgeway; he was taught his whole life that he was worse than white people, so when Ridgeway freed him, Homer thought he owed Ridgeway something and became his right hand man. I also like the fact that you bring up the fact that we see the conflict with Homer and Cora; if she was freed there is no way that she would stay with her master or their family. Cora is depicting a real slave and how they really feel and Homer represents what white people think the slaves would do,. I also think that it is interesting the Ridgeway treats Homer as an equal , he asks for his guidance and he asks for Homer while he is dying.