Blurb
Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. All the slaves lead a hellish existence, but Cora has it worse than the most; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is approaching womanhood where it is clear that even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a slave recently arrived from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they take the perilous decision to escape the North.
In Whitehead's razor-sharp imagining of the antebellum South, the Underground Railroad has assumed a physical form: a dilapidated box-car pulled along subterranean tracks by a steam locomotive, picking up fugitives wherever it can. Thus Cora embarks on a harrowing journey, seeking true freedom, pursued relentlessly by a terrifying slave catcher named Ridgeway.
As Whitehead brilliantly recreates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America, from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once the story of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shatteringly powerful meditation on history.
Review
Underground Railroad is the story of runaway life of Cora from Southern plantations. The story starts with her grandmother who was traded from Africa. There were various description the of life of slaves during the slavery period in America. The brutality of the slavers and the fear of slaves were described very well in the book. I don't know the actual history of Underground Railroad. I was watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air and in one of the episode, there was a mention of Underground Railroad in the Black History. I remembered this as a book title which I saw in Booktube videos. It was a secret network which helped black people to escape from slavery to free states and Canada. I wanted to know more about this and I heard very good reviews of this book so I picked it up. I like to read historical fiction books because along with fiction it has historical facts. Some of the points I observed in this book are:
- The hardships of slaves in the plantation. The continuous manual works without breaks and constant beating from the bosses.
- The continuous trading of slaves. Selling of children when they reach a certain age. They were treated like some things rather than humans. The human life had cost in dollars.
- Since there were poor living conditions in the slave quarters, there was no hygiene or health facilities, diseases, women dying from childbirth and death of infants and kids.
- There were body snatchers. Medical experiments were conducted on black people without informing them because their life was worthless according to whites.
- Slave hunter was kind of cool job during that time. The escaped slaves constantly live in the fear of slave hunters.
- The brutal killings, public execution, and massacre of natives by the whites.
Cora as a person was strong and determined. Even after so many bad things she had faith that she will be free. She is a fighter and not a quitter. She is not scared to stop anyone who comes in her way. There were many other characters in the book who are good. The white allies and Cora's friends were good people. Some of the scenes were brutal and it will make you feel how can humans be so cruel. Especially women face a lot of things during these times.
"White men eat you up, but sometimes colored folk eat you up too"
The women were already not safe from whites but also they were not safe from black men. The women were raped and exploited by both the races. Cora as a woman faced everything but still, she never lost hope of being free one day and this book is her story towards freedom. More than the destination the journey matters always.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟
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