Rocky’s Book Review: The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is the second book I’ve read by Whitehead (The Nickel Boys), and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both pieces of literature.  This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is both creative and heartbreaking in its story telling and truly helps you grasp the scope of depravity and inhumanity that existed when slavery was an accepted practice in America.  

The Underground Railroad tells the story of a young girl named Cora and her escape from the bonds of enslavement. Cora’s story starts in Georgia, where she grew up on a cotton plantation with ruthless owners. From Georgia, to South Carolina, North Carolina, and Indiana, Cora endures hardship and loss as she navigates her way to find freedom.

This story in undoubtedly heartbreaking, not only for Cora and her peers, but also for those who tried to help her along the way.  In Georgia, an underground railroad attendee’s house was rummaged and burned down for helping slaves.  In North Carolina, the husband and wife who took Cora in were killed for housing her.  And in Indiana, the farm community she lived in was destroyed by an angry mob of white neighbors.

However, this story also depicts the progress and hope that can be achieved in such darkness through human connection and selflessness.  Hundreds of miles of tunnel were dug to create the routes of the underground railroad.  A significant feat that could not be accomplished without the “sweat and blood” of those who were involved.  While slavery was a demonstration of the absolute worst in humanity, it also showed that the opposite end of the spectrum will always prevail; the love and sacrifice people are willing to exhibit for complete strangers.