The premise of Colson Whitehead’s much-heralded The
Underground Railroad has originated from the casual misunderstanding or
unchecked imagination we may exhibit upon hearing the word ‘underground
railroad’: that it is a literal subterranean rail network, run by former slaves
and white abolitionists, to deliver runaway slaves from pernicious antebellum
south to the free American states. The Underground Railroad actually represents
different covert methods, secret routes and signals employed to help
escape African-American slaves into Canada and northern free American states.
The hiding places of fugitive slaves were as simple as caves, haylofts and the
mode of transportation were sometimes as arduous as being confined to crates which is sent through boats or trains. The alleged ‘railroad’ operated between early and
mid 19th century (terminated with American civil war in 1861), and
rough estimates state that more than 100,000 slaves had escaped via the
unorganized network.
Colson Whitehead has come up with the fantastical ghost of
an idea for the novel 15 years before. Although Whitehead’s basic idea is a
deliberate misrepresentation and by taking this imaginative discourse he unearths
the truth behind dangerous historical misrepresentations, especially about White
America’s myopic perception of slavery. Using the speculative premise of a
literal Underground Railroad, Whitehead doesn’t weave a comforting fairly tale;
he does the opposite by exposing the United States’ perpetual crimes against
the black body and conscience. And, Whitehead’s powerful re-imagining of subdued
American past has a timeless quality to it, since the savagery of white
supremacy often tries to rear its head in contemporary 'Trumpian' times. The Underground
Railroad received glowing reviews and won both Pulitzer Prize and US National
Book Award for Fiction (this year). Plans are already underway to turn it into
a TV series and the rights were bought by ‘Moonlight’ fame Barry Jenkins.
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| Author Colson Whitehead |
Fifteen or sixteen year old Cora is the heroine of
Whitehead’s novel. She is born into slavery on a Georgian cotton plantation owned
by brothers James and Terrance Randall. The first section of the book intensely
conveys the realities of life on the plantation. What’s more memorable in this
part is the depiction of relationship between the slaves, which is so often
sentimentalized in literature or cinema. It’s not a plantation where the traumatized slaves alleviate
each other from pain; here they fight among themselves for every inch of property and morsel of food.
And, it’s understandable because these are the people who are raped and tortured
and their unchecked rage is shown to manifest in different ways. Cora’s
grandmother Ajarry was abducted by raiders from an African village when she was
a little girl. After toiling for decades in the cotton plantation, with only a
little patch of land (to cultivate vegetables) to call as her own, Ajarry
eventually dies of stroke. Her daughter Mabel ran away from the plantation
leaving little Cora behind. Mabel is alleged to have succeeded in her escape
attempt.
Ostracized by most other slaves and plagued with resentment
for her mother, Cora is tempted by an idea brought up by a freshly arrived young
slave Caesar. Having witnessed the horrific torture inflicted upon runaways,
Cora initially decline Caesar’s offer (he sees her as a lucky charm since she
is the daughter of one who successfully escaped). But when the plantation is
taken over by sadist of the two brothers (Terrance Randall), Cora’s reluctance crumbles. After
receiving a savage beating from Master Terrance for committing a humane act,
Cora gives into Caesar’s plan. From then on, Cora takes several trips through
the ‘Underground Railroad’, located beneath houses or barn trap doors. The
underground in Whitehead’s imagination realizes wondrous tunnels of at least 20
feet tall with small platforms and walls patterned with bright and dark color-stones. Cora waits on the hidden stations for the dilapidated carriages
affixed to a powerful steam engine. She moves from slave-holding Georgia to the
alleged radically transformed South Carolina. Populated with skyscrapers and
genteel whites, South Carolina seems to be paradise for afflicted African
American slaves & freemen. But Cora discovers deep layers of purgatory
beneath the seemingly race-tolerant society. On each leg of her journey, Cora
unearths different variations of racial persecution in America whose devious
schemes could still be felt in the modern times.
From proposing eugenics as a tool of emancipation to the
nighttime entertainment of coon shows, Whitehead takes us across America’s
grotesque display of slavery sins. North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Indiana, each state represents different facet of the nation’s indelible and
toxic obsession with race. Whitehead’s simple yet piercing prose tells us a
narrative that goes deep and beyond Cora’s escape from indomitable slave catchers. He lays bare
the simplified or mythologized truth regarding slavery. Whitehead’s penchant
for ironically humorous observations also doesn’t water down the dreadful moral
stakes of the narrative. Cora is absolutely believable as a young woman trying
to be a human in a crazed world. Bloodhound villain character Ridgeway was also
finely etched, making him more than a device for readers to hate. Although the
events and tools used in The Underground Novel (320 pages) puts it under speculative
fiction, its character and their profound emotions shatters myths and reclaims
truths unlike many other American history books of the past.
Colson Whitehead -- Talks at Google
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