Ajarry In The Underground Railroad Analysis

In the Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead in the chapter titled Ajarry the major theme that the author is creating is that you can't change who you are and therefore you have a predetermined place in life. Ajarry’s journey from a free woman living in a small village in Africa to a slave working the plantations of America changed her outlook on life. The journey resulted in the loss of her father and relatives, even before setting foot in America. During this journey the combination of loss as well as being sold like merchandise soon started to form a new outlook for her. Eventually, Ajarry accepted that she was a slave and believed that was her only role in life. She learned that as a slave she had a value that was placed upon her, depending on her age and ability, as well as circumstances of the slave market and her ownership. As these factors changed, Ajarry was repeatedly sold and her living situation would be altered. As her ownership changed, she would have to adapt time and time again and relearn her place. Eventually Ajarry would end up at the Randell Plantation, where she accepted her fate and place as a slave, even married and had children.

As Whitehead looks back on Ajarry’s life, he states the belief that she lived by: “To escape the boundary of the plantation was …show more content…
Despite the threat of being sold to another owner and place, Ajarry keeps living her life. She goes on to wed three different times and have five children. She seemed content on waiting for a potential new husband to arrive due to the nature of slave trade. Furthermore, her complete realization that all slaves are destined for a chosen life is evident when she is still disciplining her children as a slave because it shows that Ajarry accepts this is her life and it's not going to change for her or them. She is living a life within a