Finally, she had a savage to take care of. He liked to watch the other slaves from the window of the schoolhouse as though he weren't one of them.

In the previous chapter, she writes a list in her head of those who have helped her along the way. A fight ensues: one man shoots Boseman and another wrestles with Ridgeway. Ridgeway takes Cora to the pub for dinner, and right away begins to provoke her. Cora and Caesar travel the underground railroad to South Carolina, where Cora is given forged papers identifying her as a freewoman named Bessie Carpenter. Ridgeway tells Cora the story. The Underground Railroad study guide contains a biography of Colson Whitehead, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The man tells Caesar about Blake’s doghouse and adds that Cora has sex with animals. Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad tells the story of Cora, a runaway slave who travels from state to state on railroad cars physically under the ground of the American South. Chapter 1 Summary. The farm is home to numerous freed black people and escapees.

He continues pontificating about Manifest Destiny and his role as a slave catcher in maintaining order as Cora heads to the outhouse to shut him out. We feel for her, when her mother is first disposed of without concern when she has a stroke, when she is subjected to assault by her master, and, after Ethel’s mother is overcome with jealousy, when Jasmine is sold. Stevens believes he holds no racial prejudice compared to those around him, but he winds up an instrument of institutionalized racism. Not affiliated with Harvard College. The Underground Railroad Study Guide.

When they fall asleep, Boseman wakes Cora with a hand over her mouth, planning to rape her.

Ridgeway climbs into the wagon for the first time, takes Boseman’s pistol, and shoots Jasper in the face. https://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/~/media/ArtsEdge/LessonPrintables/grade-3-4/harriet_tubman_codes_and_phrases_used_on_the_underground_railroad.ashx. Caesar admits that Fletcher has never helped a slave get to the underground railroad before, but he assures Cora that Fletcher is an honest man. Ethel believed Donald always hated her, and had brought this abolitionism into their lives as a curse from the grave. Whitehead chose the book Caesar reads because of its parallels to the novel's plot.

The Question and Answer section for The Underground Railroad is a great Course Hero, "The Underground Railroad Study Guide," June 24, 2019, accessed October 2, 2020, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Underground-Railroad/. She realizes she has been grieving for that boy, too; but still she does not regret it. The scenes that emerge as they travel through Tennessee have a religious overtone to them.

The Underground Railroad study guide contains a biography of Colson Whitehead, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. © 2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Homer runs off. Do they deserve to be called heroes? ... Caesar Summary and Analysis Previous Section Chapter 7: Ethel Summary and Analysis Buy Study Guide

Caesar thinks about how Cora is able to survive on “the little she called her own,” such as her garden. The text itself references … She put up with the duties of a wife, disinterested, but appreciated her daughter, Jane, when she was born. When Caesar asks Cora to run away with him, she says no; a response that the narrator attributes to the legacy of Cora’s grandmother, Ajarry.The rest of the first chapter tells Ajarry's story. Course Hero, Inc. As a reminder, you may only use Course Hero content for your own personal use and may not copy, distribute, or otherwise exploit it for any other purpose. The man is clearly unintelligent, undone by the misery and trauma of life on …

Before they had a chance to do so, however, Martin discovered his father’s abolitionist papers and the map that directed him to the North Carolina station of the Underground Railroad.

Do they deserve to be called heroes? Thus a parallel is established between the destruction of the land and the chains that confine Cora. Quotes from Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. Why or Why Not? Study Resources. "The Underground Railroad Study Guide." When the slave catcher Ridgeway captures Caesar, Cora escapes alone to North Carolina. We are told that when Caesar first approached Cora about running north, she refused. Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad Chapter Summary. Ridgeway captures Cora, who leads him to the abandoned railroad station. The men chain Ridgeway to the wagon and Cora kicks him three times in the face before they ride off.

Gulliver's Travels follows the travels of the character Gulliver, a man who goes from island to island encountering new cultures and problems, which he must overcome before he can make his way home. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Sometimes they even played husband and wife, exchanging kisses.

She is willing to take action, to resist. She went upstairs and retrieved Cora, bathed her, and laid her on a clean bed. The Underground Railroad Summary and Study Guide. In this way the book Caesar reads is like the novel itself. Martin also said he heard that Cora fornicates with the swamp animals. Boseman is known for wearing a necklace of ears, which he won in a wrestling match from an Indian named Strong. How was Cora's identity portrayed throughout the book?

Caesar refers to the book as Travels into Several Remote Nations, the original title of the book, published anonymously in 1726 by Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift. The Underground Railroad Part 1 Summary & Analysis Part 1: "Ajarry" Part 1 Summary.

Ridgeway tells Cora that he found the boy for sale and took him to be a kindred spirit. Cora is born a slave on the Randall plantation in Georgia.


The use of the original title is perhaps a historically accurate reference; it also, however, mimics the trajectory of Cora’s adventure. Slaves on Randall can barely celebrate at all, Caesar thinks.

Jasmine’s mother, Felice, cleaned the house efficiently and smartly.

This new state has been burned to the ground.

The seventh chapter tells the story of Ethel’s life before Cora comes to her attic.

I'm sorry, this is a short-answer forum designed for text specific questions. She agrees to remain quiet, hoping he will unchain her and give her a chance to escape. This chapter also provides precious insight into Caesar’s perspective on Cora, a point of view readers have missed until now.

"The Underground Railroad Chapter 9: Caesar Summary and Analysis". The first runaway Martin helped was George, a week before the new race laws in North Carolina went into effect.

The small family settled into a quiet routine.

Gulliver’s Travels was a travel novel, a genre that has a painful relationship to the genre of a fugitive slave narrative. Ridgeway also tells Cora of his visit to Randall’s plantation to confer with Terrance when he issued the bounty for Cora. She is described as a discerning, intelligent, and determined character.

This paradox in Edgar’s worldview is a reminder of the perversity of the larger system of slavery.

“Bessie” works first as a maid for a white family, then as an actor in museum displays that depict slave life. Ethel was greatly upset by this separation from her playmate, but it soon became normal. The Underground Railroad study guide contains a biography of Colson Whitehead, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

In deeper reflection, however, she is stymied when she tries to explain the reasons for her own misfortunes. Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Underground-Railroad/. Cora is tempted to assign the destruction of the white settlers’ livelihoods to justice for the catastrophes they inflicted on her people and on the land. It was not that he thought she would be lucky, given her mother's success.

Persuaded by a fellow slave named Caesar, Cora escapes from the Georgia plantation where she was born and travels north, riding in the boxcar of a secret underground train.
When Cora’s mother, Mabel, runs away, Cora becomes a young outcast among the slaves of the Randall plantation. It also aligns with Cora’s habit of making lists. Regardless of the presence of satire in The Underground Railroad, Caesar draws different lessons from the book. The Underground Railroad essays are academic essays for citation.

Jasper, another runaway who Ridgeway captured along the way, sings biblical hymns incessantly. Boseman shudders, recalling the death of his brothers from yellow fever. He learns from the protagonist’s “guile and pluck,” and resolves to seek a true home, rather than continue wandering (235). Caesar is an enslaved man who lives on Randall and invites Cora to run away with him. Course Hero. The Underground Railroad essays are academic essays for citation. Mabel is a mystery, and Cora feels sad and resentful that she left without even a veiled goodbye. She notices they are traveling west instead of south, the direction of Randall’s plantation.

Caesar is intelligent enough to realize that this difference can be an asset, rather than a liability. LitCharts Teacher Editions. The ninth chapter tells Caesar’s perspective back on the Randall plantation. Accessed October 2, 2020. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Underground-Railroad/. Later that night, Cora sees a black woman running through the green in front of the dormitories screaming, “They’re taking away my babies!” This image haunts Cora. Slave Narratives and the "Real" Underground Railroad, Read the Study Guide for The Underground Railroad…, Delusion and Reality in The Underground Railroad, Past and Future Blues: A Comparison of Historical Themes in 'Sonny's Blues' and 'The Underground Railroad', View the lesson plan for The Underground Railroad…, View Wikipedia Entries for The Underground Railroad…. It’s worth it to read a page of his book in secret. Thus it is not the individual character that matters so much in the novel, but rather the entire system. Teachers and parents!

The trail they take away from the quarantined town leads them to more infected settlements, leading Cora to reflect on lists of misfortune. Like him, Cora is a stray who doesn't fit in. Their fear is revealed in their nightmares. CliffsNotes study guides are written by real teachers and professors, so no matter what you're studying, CliffsNotes can ease your homework headaches and help you score high on exams. Yet although he believes in this enforced separation, he begins raping Jasmine when she is only fourteen years old.

The first line of the first chapter introduces the idea of escape.

resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. 2 Oct. 2020.

Gulliver’s Travels, however, was also a satirical commentary on English politics of the day. Cora is the protagonist of The Underground Railroad. Ajarry is sold into slavery in Ouidah, a port on the Gold Coast of Africa. Freedom is too big of an idea for her to agree to so quickly. GradeSaver, 14 April 2019 Web. She kissed her forehead and neck: sacred kisses. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. The chapter on Ethel comes immediately after readers watch her lynching at the hands of her fellow townspeople in North Carolina. Despite this, Fletcher is able to bring Cora and Caesar to an Underground Railroad station.

The red sky at sunset amplifies this catastrophic mood and setting.

Cora does not react to the news: sometime in her attic nook in North Carolina, she had come to terms with the likely reality of Caesar’s death. "The Underground Railroad Chapter 8: Tennessee Summary and Analysis". These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.