The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is a fictional novel about slavery and racism in the Antebellum Era. The main character named Cora is a slave who lives in a plantation in Georgia. One day, Cora and her companion Caesar run away to a railroad station. However, this “underground railroad” is not a house that has cabinets; it is a real railroad built underground. Through the underground railroad, Cora travels through the different states in the South (South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, and finally the North) from Georgia and experiences different levels and kinds of racism that were present in American history.
Whitehead’s interpretation of racism is intriguing as he organizes the different events against African American through states. With the tangible connection that runs through America’s South, the Underground Railroad, Cora experiences racism in different perspectives. In Georgia was her plantation, a seemingly justified way of life in which people are treated and used as property. In South Carolina, Cora experiences racism in the medical field. The events that occur in the newly built hospital are forced sterilization of women and the treatment and testing of syphilis on African American men. Both events draw parallels to medical history that occured in the United States. The forced sterilization of women of color was part of the eugenics movement that took place in America in the 20th Century. Similarly, the testing of syphilis is a connection to the Tuskegee experiment that took place on African American men regarding syphilis. In North Carolina, Cora witnessed the racism that occurred regarding lynchings and caricatures of African Americans, events that occurred often after the abolition of slavery. There is even a Trail of Freedom, which bodies of lynched people are hanged on trees for miles and miles. In Indiana, it is not a perspective of racism. Cora experiences a safe haven in the Valentine Farm for African Americans in which she is able to pursue her education and find a steady job. However, Indiana reveals the negative response that people have to such African American havens, as the farm is burnt down. By experiencing all these states, Cora’s perspective of America shifts and grows with the identity of her own self.
Apart from racism in the United States, Cora’s self grows from a small person into a more mature and fulfilling person. When she was in Georgia, Cora was considered an outcast because her mother escaped at a young age. She was often bullied and many others did not find a need to interact with her at all. However, as she travels through the states in the Underground Railroad, Cora grows from her traumas and learns to be more loving of herself. Throughout the different states she travels through, Cora meets more people who are accepting of her and want to help her, later falling in love with a man named Royal and being integrated into a small family. This progression for Cora is also marked by her improvement in literacy. In the beginning of the book, Cora was illiterate and could not read a single word. However, with the greater exposure of education, Cora overcomes a great barrier within herself and is able to open her eyes to a new world.
I would recommend this book to those who are interested in the different aspects of racism in America. Still, I wouldn’t really recommend the book to those who do not understand the Underground Railroad in the historical context as it may confuse them. Four stars!
Comments