What characterizes Whitehead's style? What distinguishes his writing style from the style
of others?
Provide examples with citations to support your point. Feel free to compare his style to the style of other authors you know.
Interview Quotes:
From the New York Times: “I went back and reread ‘100 Years of Solitude,’ and it made me think about what it would be like if I didn’t turn the dial up to 10, but kept the fantasy much more matter-of-fact,” he said. “I wanted it to be like the slave narratives I read, where you get a very matter-of-fact contemplation of all these weird and horrible things that keep happening.”
Provide examples with citations to support your point. Feel free to compare his style to the style of other authors you know.
Interview Quotes:
From the New York Times: “I went back and reread ‘100 Years of Solitude,’ and it made me think about what it would be like if I didn’t turn the dial up to 10, but kept the fantasy much more matter-of-fact,” he said. “I wanted it to be like the slave narratives I read, where you get a very matter-of-fact contemplation of all these weird and horrible things that keep happening.”
5 comments:
Whiteheads style is direct and straightforward. Cora’s story sounds like it is a retelling or diary of events that happened at the time and there isn’t a big emphasis on the fact that the underground railroad wasn’t a railroad in real life. It is mentioned that some people didn’t believe the railroad is a genuine railroad, but besides instances like that it is treated as though there truly was a railroad. Furthermore, Whitehead took great care in developing a story for the railroad itself. Upon seeing the railroad tunnel, Cora thought “how many hands had it required to make [it]? And the tunnels beyond, wherever and how far had it led?” (Whitehead 70). Cora treats the tunnel as she treated every other object in her life, by wondering about it rather than questioning it. Additionally, the railroad isn’t the focus of the novel, instead it is what connects each setting to one another, since each setting tells a different, but connected, story. If there was too much of a focus placed on the fact that the underground railroad was a series of railroads it would have detracted from the story Whitehead was trying to tell about Cora and instead would have been a story of the railroad itself.
Moreover, every other section of the book provides some backstory for some of the characters, The tragedy of Ajarry’s kidnapping and Caesar’s life are revealed in this way, which provides context for the story and adds to the emotional significance of certain events. This is also used to reveal Ridgeways motivation and reason for being a slave catcher, which develops his character more and adds some level of understanding for his actions, although it doesn’t justify them, which was not meant to be the point of his section. Perhaps the most significant realization from this style of writing is that Mabel never escaped, she died in the swamp trying to return home. Mabel decides that “she had to go back. The girl [Cora] was waiting on her,” (Whitehead 300). Contrary to what every character in the story believes, Mabel never escaped and she did not want to abandon Cora, she just was unable to return to her daughter. This reveal provides a sort of morbid irony because instead of Cora being a good luck charm due to her mother’s accomplishments, she had the opposite effect. Caesar didn’t escape and survive, he was killed when he thought he was free, just as Mabel died after “she was free,” (Whitehead 300).
Whitehead’s style is unique because as he says in the New York Times, he wanted to keep the novel more “matter-of-fact”. The story is told by a third person narrative. Therefore, the narrator is tells the story of what each character is experiencing with a main focus on Cora. However, the narrator is limited because since the story isn’t being told by Cora herself, readers do not know exactly what she is thinking and feeling. I think this is important and interesting because it allows readers to imagine what Cora is feeling throughout her journey, rather than simply being told it. This way, readers can connect more with Cora and truly attempt to empathize with her and put themselves in her situation. One of many instances where I felt for Cora was at the end of the novel when she was attempting to escape Ridgeway for the second time. Whitehead writes, “They fought and grappled in the violence of their fall. In the jumble of collisions, Cora’s head knocked across the stone… Cora untwined herself from Ridgeway and crawled toward the handcar, left leg in agony”(308). This is one example out of several where Whitehead describes something horrible happening to Cora, but only states the facts. As a reader, I could imagine how much agony Cora was in even though it was not stated by Cora herself. After losing everyone she ever cared about, she gave all the strength she had left in fighting Ridgeway for her freedom. She was even able to escape despite several brutal injuries. Finally, his writing style is different from many other authors writing because typically, writers make clear the main character's thoughts and emotions instead of only stating the facts.
Whitehead's style, in my opinion is slightly empty, there are no opinions hidden in the narration, it is incredibly straightforeward. I noticed that there is little dialouge compared to other authors I have read. Rather than using quotes to show a conversation, often he will only explain what happened, likely to get the point across quickly, and to establish more of a narrative flow. I think he may use this to technique to distance the characters from ourselves slightly. I found it harder to feel for the characters, and felt that his writing kept a distance between me and the characters. By explaining what a character had said rather than showing the dialouge creates a pocket between the reader and the charcter whom is had spoken or said something. However, this techinque is used more to help his intensely descrptive writing. Like on page 209, rather than showing the dialouge of Ridgeway explaining the lightning strike must have started the fire, he vaugely says it to led into a description. " Ridgeway told them that a lightning strike must have started the fire. The smoke filled the sky for hundreds of miles, tinting the sunset into gorgeous contusions of crimson and purple. This was Tennessee announcing itself". This distance allows his narration to feel omnipotent, as if the reader is god flying over the Tennessee landscape. It is quite unique to Whitehead, at least to my knowledge, as I have not read many books with such levels of description
The style that Whitehead used was perfect for the novel that he chose to write. It was written in the third person and the entire time the story was centered around Cora and her journey. Due to the fact that the story was written through the perspective of a narrator, the reader does not have the chance to see exactly what Cora is thinking throughout the story. The reader gets to hear what Cora and others are saying but not what she is thinking throughout the novel. A quote from the novel says this, "Cora slunk over to Hob, where they banished the wretched," (16). This quote is just an example of how Whitehead wrote the story through the perspective of a narrator and at the same time following around Cora through her journey. Whitehead's style is also effective in being different at times because he uses incredibly descriptive examples of how slavery was and it even gets vulgar at times. Many authors would choose not to use anything vulgar in their writings at all. For example, some writers in their works would choose not to include violence but even so Whitehead chooses to show exactly how life was during the time of slavery when he describes things such as when Cora gets whipped or even when Martin and Ethel are seen getting stoned as Ridgeway takes Cora away.
Whitehead’s style is very down to earth and direct, but not so much that it forsakes description and solid imagery. The author is able to strike a good balance between embellishment and straight facts, providing both interesting reading and great storytelling. Take, for instance, when Cora is finally found by the Night Riders in North Carolina. That initial moment of the Riders bursting into the house, searching, and finding her could have been drawn out intolerably, with perhaps a conversation between the Riders and Ethel as they entered the house, a description of them searching, or some inner monologuing on Cora’s part as she is found. But instead, the moment is swift and to the point, taking little time at all. Whitehead does it in one sentence, describing how Cora, “crawled under Martin’s old bed and that’s where they found her, snatching her ankles like irons and dragging her out” (Whitehead 188). This simplicity greatly helps keep this important scene moving along, so that it can delve into matters that require more explanation sooner. That way, the entire novel does not become unnecessarily padded with fluff all throughout itself, but instead is elaborate just when it needs to be, like when Cora first arrives to North Carolina. When Cora is first leaving the station in North Carolina, and Martin reveals stops for just a moment in order for her to see the Freedom Trail, Whitehead created an important moment for the reader to understand the situation and society of North Carolina. And appropriately, he goes into good detail when describing the trail, writing of how, “The corpses hung from the trees as rotting ornaments” (Whitehead 155) and that, “One had been castrated, an ugly mouth where his manhood had been” (Whitehead 155). Whitehead, rather than solely stick to bare minimum description and explanation, chose this moment to instead go into detail on just how terrible this trail really was in order to set up expectations for Cora and the reader on how North Carolina will be. And yet, just as for the rest of the novel, there is a balance here between extravagance and moderation. Whitehead does go into good detail about the Freedom Trail, but does not become overzealous about it. The description does not drag on for pages, but it is also not barebones. It is descriptive without being unnecessary, and that perfectly symbolizes Whitehead’s style of writing; detailed, yet straightforward.
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