1. Who or what are the main antagonists? What are the main conflicts?
How are they depicted? Are they resolved? If so, how? If not, why not?
2. What are some other, minor conflicts? Why are they included? Are they resolved?
2. What are some other, minor conflicts? Why are they included? Are they resolved?
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The main conflict in the story is slavery and racism as a whole. The novel takes place in the time period when African Americans were not treated as human beings. They were either forced to work as slaves for whites, used by doctors for medical research as described in the South Carolina chapter, or hunted after. Only in some states were they able to be free. The main antagonists in the story were slave owners James and Terrance Randall and slave-catcher Ridgeway. The Randall’s were the owners of a plantation and treated African Americans brutally. The main conflict arises when one day, a boy named Chester accidentally spills wine on James Randall. When the slave owner was beating him senseless, Cora was filled with anger and tried to fight back only to receive horrid beatings herself. The two were tortured for days and Cora was pushed over the edge. She decides to run away with a boy Ceaser, who had proposed running away with her weeks before when she had denied him and thought the plan was ridiculous. When it is made public of Cora and Caesar's escape, slave-catcher Ridgway is determined to find Cora. When Cora’s mother Mabel escaped years ago, Ridgeway failed to find her and her escape has haunted him ever since. He sets out to hunt Cora to make up for his past failure. Ridgway is the main antagonist and acts out of pure evil. He has been torturing, hunting, and abusing African Americans since he was a teenager. However, Cora never gives up in her fight against Ridgeway and escapes from him twice. By the end of the novel, Cora’s conflict with him is resolved when she risks her own life to fight him back and she continues her escape through the underground railroad. However, Cora is still striving for freedom at the end of the story and technically has not reached it yet. Though she may or may not have spent her life running, she never gave up her fight for freedom which symbolizes her race’s determination for equality and end to slavery.
The main conflict in the story is slavery and racism as a whole. The novel takes place in the time period when African Americans were not treated as human beings. They were either forced to work as slaves for whites, used by doctors for medical research as described in the South Carolina chapter, or hunted after. Only in some states were they able to be free. The main antagonists in the story were slave owners James and Terrance Randall and slave-catcher Ridgeway. The Randall’s were the owners of a plantation and treated African Americans brutally. The main conflict arises when one day, a boy named Chester accidentally spills wine on James Randall. When the slave owner was beating him senseless, Cora was filled with anger and tried to fight back only to receive horrid beatings herself. The two were tortured for days and Cora was pushed over the edge. She decides to run away with a boy Ceaser, who had proposed running away with her weeks before when she had denied him and thought the plan was ridiculous. When it is made public of Cora and Caesar's escape, slave-catcher Ridgway is determined to find Cora. When Cora’s mother Mabel escaped years ago, Ridgeway failed to find her and her escape has haunted him ever since. He sets out to hunt Cora to make up for his past failure. Ridgway is the main antagonist and acts out of pure evil. He has been torturing, hunting, and abusing African Americans since he was a teenager. However, Cora never gives up in her fight against Ridgeway and escapes from him twice. By the end of the novel, Cora’s conflict with him is resolved when she risks her own life to fight him back and she continues her escape through the underground railroad. However, Cora is still striving for freedom at the end of the story and technically has not reached it yet. Though she may or may not have spent her life running, she never gave up her fight for freedom which symbolizes her race’s determination for equality and end to slavery.
Some other minor conflicts in the story are when Cora is reminded of her mother's escape. She resents Mabel for leaving her behind and is both saddened and angered by her mother’s abandonment. This conflict for Cora teaches her to be strong and independent, while also learning from her mothers mistakes. She fights for herself and her freedom but also loves and cares for others deeply. This conflict is resolved when readers learn that Mabel had gone back for Cora, but didn’t survive due to a poisonous snake bite. However, Maybel accepted her death and said goodbye to her daughter in her own way, though Cora may not have known. More minor conflicts are the losses Cora faces throughout her runway. Lovey, Ceasar, Martin & Ethel, and Royal all are killed trying to help or protect Cora. Each of their deaths demonstrates the brutality of racism and represented innocent lives that were stolen from a cruel era. Though these conflicts may not have been resolved as Cora’s heart is never truly mended, she continues to fight for freedom. Once again, this is symbolic of African Americans persistence in fighting for equality and keeping on despite the losses and hardships they faced along the way.
The main and constant antagonist is the society of the south, being an oppressive and racist one. This society is demonstrated through the character antagonists throughout the novel. The Randalls represent different types of plantation owners that existed, which were the money motivated businessman, the apathetic but working owner, and the cruel racist slave driver. Ridgeway represents the constant threat that African Americans faced at the time. They had no real way of feeling free or safe if they ran away because someone would be looking to take them back to the plantation they escaped from, which gives runaway slaves little opportunity to find freedom.
The primary conflict is an extension of the society, as Cora tries to escape slavery’s abuses. This time, Cora needs to try and survive running away from the plantation. The first stage of this is deciding to actually run away, which raises interesting questions about running away. She must choose between suffering at the plantation or risk dying in an attempt to be free. Once she decides to leave, Cora must reach the underground railroad, which requires careful maneuvering in order to avoid the slave catchers in the area. Once they reach the railroad, they can live in a generally peaceful. The next major conflict is escaping South Carolina, which is made more difficult because the railroad is no longer going to Sam’s station because his house has been attacked and the railroad doesn’t want to take the risk of going. Once she leaves, Cora is forced to live in a small space over Martin’s attic for months because the railroad is abandoned. This results in a new kind of imprisonment as Cora must sacrifice her freedom for her safety. Once she is found, she is subjected to Ridgeways abuse is caged just as she was in the attic, but is no longer safe. Once rescued, Cora has a relatively peaceful life on Valentine’s farm until it is attacked. When the farm is attacked, her lover is killed right in front of her and she leaves all the friends she made. However this time she does truly escape her bondage and reaches freedom in the north.
Most primary conflicts are resolved, however they are not all positive resolutions. Cora does escape by the end of the novel, but Lovey and Caesar are killed. Cora feels as though everyone she met while escaping has suffered because of her.
The primary conflict of a racist society is not resolved, but Cora escapes the worst of what society has to offer. This couldn’t have been resolved in the novel without altering the historic timeline of events surrounding slavery.
Minor conflicts within the novel include the opening explanation of Ajarry’s life, the emotional impact on Cora and Cora’s resentment towards her mother. Although Ajarry’s fate is just as tragic as the other conflicts of the novel, it is concluded in one chapter. Ajarry is kidnapped, endures many injustices and dies while suffering on the plantation. The way in which this was implemented reveals the cruel nature of society at the time and introduces the tragic abuses present in the novel. The emotional impact Cora’s escape has on her is present throughout the novel, with her questioning every decision she has made on her journey. She wonders if she could have everyone she met or if the boy that attacked her will live, but eventually accepts what has occured. This isn’t truly resolved by the end of the novel because Cora still has to deal with the emotions of everything that happened. Finally, Cora still resents her mother for abandoning her. Although she does understand Mabel's actions, she doesn’t forgive her mother for running away without her. The reader learns that Mabel never escaped, she died trying to return to the plantation. This gives closure to the audience, but makes Cora’s resentment to her mother seem even more tragic because Mabel didn’t want to abandon her daughter, she just couldn’t make it back.
The main antagonist in the story is known as Ridgeway. Ridgeway is 18 years old and he was the man who took charge in attempting to find Cora's mother Mabel. Eventually once Cora decided to finally join Caesar after her and Chester were getting viciously whipped every day. Cora and Caesar chose to travel on the underground railroad and escape the Randall plantation where they were currently enslaved. Once they escape, Ridgeway makes it his mission to find Cora and make up for not being able to find Cora's mother, Mabel. Ridgeway's search led him and his two associates, Boseman and Homer, to North Carolina where Cora made it to using the underground railroad. Cora was found in Martin and Ethel's attic in their house. Due to the strict laws in North Carolina, Martin and Ethel were stoned for having Cora in their house so when their servant, Fiona, told the townspeople there was a black person in the attic, Ridgeway and his associates came with the townspeople and took her. Once Ridgeway and company made it to Tennessee, three black men, Royal, Justin, and Red saved Cora from Ridgeway by killing Boseman and putting Ridgeway and Homer in chains. Cora then makes it to the Valentine farm which became a haven for runaway slaves in Indiana. Eventually the white people of the town came and attacked the Valentine plantation and along came Ridgeway and Homer and they captured Cora once again. When Cora brought them to the underground railroad while she was being held at gunpoint, Cora pushed Ridgeway down some stairs and severely injured him to the point where she was able to escape.
A minor conflict in the story was when Blake's dog destroyed some of the cabbages that Cora was growing in her garden. This was a minor conflict that was very quickly resolved by Cora when she used a hatchet to destroy Blake's doghouse and at the same time Cora cut off half of the dog's tail.
The main antagonists in this novel can be categorized into two main groups; the physical and social antagonists. The physical antagonists are people actively opposing the protagonists of the story, like Terrance Randall or Ridgeway. The social antagonists, however, are the ideas and beliefs that breed the physical antagonists, like racism and social darwinism, which would ultimately lead entire states to do things like institute eugenics programs for black people in South Carolina or simply kill them on sight like in North Carolina. This in turn creates a sort of domino effect, with the social antagonists creating the physical antagonists, who in turn create all of the conflicts of the novel. So for instance, there is the major conflict of Ridgeway’s perusal of Cora throughout America. The social antagonist of racism in America led to slave catchers becoming a brutal profession, which in turn led to Ridgeway becoming a slave catcher, which in turn led to Ridgeway being the one who pursued the protagonists. Or there are any of the major state related conflicts, like escaping the farm in Georgia, surviving in North Carolina, or getting away from Ridgeway in Tennessee. All of these issues were started by the state’s view on black people, enforced by the citizens of the state, and ultimately produced an effect that threatened or endangered Cora and company. And all of these major conflicts, save for the one in North Carolina, ended in the typical fashion, the main protagonist Cora barely escaping by the skin of her teeth. Friends and allies of Cora often died during these resolutions, or sometimes even the antagonist, after Ridgeway died falling down the stairs of a Railroad Station, but Cora would always make it out safe. Except for in North Carolina, where she was actually caught, but then immediately introduced to the conflict in Tennessee, from which she escaped. There were also minor conflicts however, such as the effects of Cora’s mother running away from the plantation without Cora. Throughout the novel, almost whenever Cora reached a new state, she is either thinking about or asking around about if anyone has seen or heard of her mother. Be it to Miss Lucy in South Carolina or Sybil at Valentine’s farm, Cora always makes sure to inquire about it, because while it might not be as threatening as Ridgeway attempting to bring her back to Georgia, Cora’s mother’s abandonment is still an issue that Cora has to deal with at all parts of her life. And while this minor conflict is resolved like the major ones, it has a far less satisfying ending. Rather than a just barely surviving happy ending like Cora gets leaving most states, Cora’s mother actually only ran away for a short while, before deciding to head back to the plantation, getting bitten by a venomous snake, and succumbing to the poison and dying out in the swamp that borders the plantation, disappearing into the muck. So while it is uplifting to know that Cora’s mother did not intend to abandon her daughter in her final moments, it is still saddening to know that Cora will never get to know that information.
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