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Transcript

The Underground Railroad

Sam and Ethan

9/13/2020

Thesis: In Colson Whitehead's "The Underground Railroad" the author makes several structural choices that construct the narrative and entice the reader to continue reading. This includes the gender roles, time in history, and the choice of fictional creations.

Sexual Assault Scene

The sexual assault scene in the first chapter where Cora is abused and raped by 4 fellow slaves makes the choice of making our main protagonist a female make sense. She is constantly harassed and degraded by these men and Ridgeway throughout the novel, and many of those things would not be as realistic if she were a man. She also would not have fallen in love towards the end of the novel, which I would consider to be a mid-major plot point. Overall, this choice makes the novel flow more smoothly.

Example 1

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad is an interconnected Railroad that runs under the United States, and is a reference to the real"Underground Railroad" which was used to free slaves. It serves the same purpose in his novel but it is the main use of Afrofuturism, as it did not actually happen. It is mentioned many times throughout the book, with stations in multiple states that Cora visits. It is the main plot device that is used to move the story forward and adds the Afrofuturism into an already great piece of historical fiction.

Example 2

The Railroad

https://www.jamesmaherphotography.com/new-york-historical-articles/the-old-city-hall-subway-station/

Martin and Ethel's Death

The hatred of society was easily shown in the instance of Martin and Ethel's death. Martin and Ethel were part of the Underground Railroad and got caught housing Cora. After being caught, tied Martin and Ethel to a tree. People threw stones at Martin and Ethel, even the children! This eventually led to Martin and Ethel's demise, due to being lynched publicly. Also, Cora was taken back by her original owner, Ridgeway.

Example 3

Ridgeway Justifying Slavery

Ridgeway and many other people during the time would use the bible and other means to justify slavery. Ridgeway explains his position as this, “I’m a notion of order. The slave that disappears–it’s a notion, too. Of hope. Undoing what I do so that a slave the next plantation over gets an idea that it can run, too. If we allow that, we accept the flaw in the imperative. And I refuse”. This just shows how people were so brainwashed and ignorant. It was so easy for someone to gain followers just by stretching what the bible says to their own idea of racism and slavery.

Example 4

Religious Undertones

http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/uniontodisunion/exhibits/show/scripture-passages/the-book-of-genesis

Mabel Leaving Cora

Towards the end of the book, we see Cora's perspective about escaping slavery. Ever since her mom, Mabel, escaped, she was hopeful that she too could escape the plantation. This sets up the whole story, because this optimism about freedom is what got Cora throughout the tough journey on the Underground Railroad. This plot point is carried all the way through the novel, as she has a man vs. self conflict when determining whether or not she should leave. Her mom and grandma were both slaves their whole life, and she was determined to change her own fate.

Example 5

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