The Underground Railroad captures a unique perspective of slavery and reveals the true horrors and misery of slave life. Fiction helps make history into a story that enables an in depth perspective on historical events and Whitehead uses character to exemplify the emotions and situations felt through slaves at this time period. Whitehead highlights important issues such as race, literacy, and gender throughout his book, which will be emphasized throughout this essay.
Race is a huge component of the book and its time period. In chapter 10, Whitehead writes “and America, too, is a delusion, the grandest one of all. The white race believes––believes with all its heart––that it is their right to take the land. To kill Indians. Make war. Enslave …show more content…
Yet here we are.” This quote reveals the attitude that was felt by slaves in this time period and how twisted America was in the early stages. In chapter 2, Whitehead writes “white man trying to kill you slow every day, and sometimes trying to kill you fast.” This quote shows how dominant the white race was at this time and how unfair others were treated solely based on the color of their skin, and they could be killed at any moment. In Chapter 1, Whitehead writes “She knew that the white man's scientists peered beneath things to understand how they worked. The movement of the stars across the night, the cooperation of humors in the blood. The temperature requirements for a healthy cotton harvest. Ajarry made a science of her own black body and accumulated observations… in America the quirk was that people were things.” This quote from The Underground Railroad, explores the science that was happening at this time and how race played a role in whether someone was considered a person or a thing. In the New …show more content…
On page 193, Whitehead writes “if you want to help savages, her father said, teach school.” This shows how slaves were viewed as animals at this time period and that teaching them anything was heavily looked down upon. On page 183 Colson Whitehead writes, “cora asked Ethel, can you read some to me? Ethel growled. But she opened the almanac where the spine broke and in compromise with herself used the same cadences she used for the bible.” This quote shows how uneducated slaves really were at this time period and that being literate was an extremely rare thing as a slave. On page 193 Whitehead also elaborates that “master said the only thing more dangerous than a nigger with a gun, he told them, was a nigger with a book.” This shows how much white people did not want slaves to become educated because they were afraid that they would be able to break through the cruel handcuffs of slavery, which they eventually did. In the New York Times review the reviewer writes, “The Underground Railroad,” the latest selection of Oprah Winfrey’s book club, chronicles the life of a teenage slave named Cora, who flees the Georgia plantation where she was born, risking everything in pursuit of freedom, much the way her mother, Mabel, did years before.” This quote highlights how far our society has come since the times of slavery because Oprah
Race is a huge component of the book and its time period. In chapter 10, Whitehead writes “and America, too, is a delusion, the grandest one of all. The white race believes––believes with all its heart––that it is their right to take the land. To kill Indians. Make war. Enslave …show more content…
Yet here we are.” This quote reveals the attitude that was felt by slaves in this time period and how twisted America was in the early stages. In chapter 2, Whitehead writes “white man trying to kill you slow every day, and sometimes trying to kill you fast.” This quote shows how dominant the white race was at this time and how unfair others were treated solely based on the color of their skin, and they could be killed at any moment. In Chapter 1, Whitehead writes “She knew that the white man's scientists peered beneath things to understand how they worked. The movement of the stars across the night, the cooperation of humors in the blood. The temperature requirements for a healthy cotton harvest. Ajarry made a science of her own black body and accumulated observations… in America the quirk was that people were things.” This quote from The Underground Railroad, explores the science that was happening at this time and how race played a role in whether someone was considered a person or a thing. In the New …show more content…
On page 193, Whitehead writes “if you want to help savages, her father said, teach school.” This shows how slaves were viewed as animals at this time period and that teaching them anything was heavily looked down upon. On page 183 Colson Whitehead writes, “cora asked Ethel, can you read some to me? Ethel growled. But she opened the almanac where the spine broke and in compromise with herself used the same cadences she used for the bible.” This quote shows how uneducated slaves really were at this time period and that being literate was an extremely rare thing as a slave. On page 193 Whitehead also elaborates that “master said the only thing more dangerous than a nigger with a gun, he told them, was a nigger with a book.” This shows how much white people did not want slaves to become educated because they were afraid that they would be able to break through the cruel handcuffs of slavery, which they eventually did. In the New York Times review the reviewer writes, “The Underground Railroad,” the latest selection of Oprah Winfrey’s book club, chronicles the life of a teenage slave named Cora, who flees the Georgia plantation where she was born, risking everything in pursuit of freedom, much the way her mother, Mabel, did years before.” This quote highlights how far our society has come since the times of slavery because Oprah