Colson Whitehead

The Psychology of Slavery in Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad In the disheartening world of Colson Whitehead’s 2016 novel, The Underground Railroad, Whitehead offers his take on American-ness. Racism and discrimination continually resurface among people, and with problems suppressing sanitizing American history, Whitehead felt it necessary to provide a fictional slave narrative that does not shy away from the horror of slavery. Michael Schaub of the National Public Radio further…

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…

Whitehead uses his own experiences from this city, as resident, to expose its beauty and its affection to others. He states “It’s the early seventies, so everything is filthy. Which means everything is still filthy, because that is my city and I’m sticking to it.” The author shows his stubborn mind as he sticks to his society and would rather not reveal its internal secrets. This pathos appeal states his grounds and his background experience through his love to this city. Later, Whitehead states…

by creating a story based on history known as historical fiction. Writing through such a genre allows the author enough wiggle room to add fictional events and characters that would provoke the audience’s emotions. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is a story that is believed to do just that--instill emotions into the author’s audience. Although Whitehead’s novel explains American slavery in heavy detail, it proves to contain numerous inconsistencies of history along the path of the…

The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead, was published in 2016. The genre of this novel is historical fiction, focusing on the suffering of black people during the Pre-Civil war era. Slavery existed from the beginning of the 17th century until it was abolished in 1865. The novel tells the story of a young girl, a teenager named Cora, that is born into slavery. Her goal is to escape through the underground railroads to get to the northern free states. Cora after being raped and…

In his essay “The Loser Edit”, Colson Whitehead explores the idea of a “loser edit”, which he defines as a narrative that strives to capture someone’s life to fit a certain edit. The edit puts a spotlight on our flaws through reality tv, social media, and real life situations. Whitehead explains that the loser and winner edit “clasp meaning onto experience”, through its control over our actions or reactions in everyday life. In this essay, Whitehead argues about the harm that the loser edit…

the rug? While many band aids cover the cracks and damage done by slavery, it can not make the scars disappear, as the pain lives on everyday in the ancestors of the slaves in America. In his Pulitzer Prize winning novel Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead exposes the unique atrocities of slavery in each state, while transforming the figurative ‘railroad’ to an actual vessel to illustrate the realities…

When one encounters, The Colossus of New York, it is much like New York itself. Colson Whitehead highlights little moment that define the Big Apple. He takes you on a free trip, landing you right on the map of New York City. Whitehead writes a love letter sent to everyone who has set foot in the city once, twice, or a thousand times before, doing an excellent job of finding yourself catching sentences that you can identify are from the most populated city in the United States. Perhaps, making…

multiple voicethreads, we analyzed the plot, symbols, and characters. When I began reading The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead, I realized very quickly that this short story would be mystery filled. The story revolves around elevators which were very prevalent during this pre-civil war time period. I am curious to see the real reason elevators are so symbolic in this short story. Whitehead caught my attention right when i realized he chose an African american elevator inspector named Lila Mae…

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…