Let's start light ... other than Cora, who is your favorite character? Why?
Other than Ridgeway, who is your least favorite character? Why?
Be sure to provide textual support with citations.
Also, consider why Whitehead depicted his characters in these ways.
Other than Ridgeway, who is your least favorite character? Why?
Be sure to provide textual support with citations.
Also, consider why Whitehead depicted his characters in these ways.
5 comments:
Favorite- Royal- He was born free, but was willing to help slaves escape and run away to freedom, despite knowing the risk associated with doing so. Royal would have been killed if he was caught aiding runaway’s, but he could have been kidnapped at anytime if he wasn’t careful because of how oppressive society was. Despite these dangerous but likely consequences he helped anyway. As a young man, Royal aided the underground railroad and “by his official induction into the underground railroad, he had been his instrument for some time,” (Whitehead 266). He went so far as to save Cora from Ridgeway, despite the great difficulty in doing so and the fact that Royal was already helping another runaway, adding to the severity his punishment would have been had he been captured. Moreover, Royal showed Cora an escape route after they are safely on Valentine Farm, which gives Cora options and doesn’t make her feel trapped. This makes Royal more trustworthy and caring because he seemed to not tell anyone else about the abandoned track. However, Cora initially refuses to take and decides to stay, but once Royal is shot during the raid Royal tells Cora to take it and run. When Cora was comforting Royal after he was shot he told her to “‘go to the house in the woods. You can tell me where it goes.’ His body went slack,” (Whitehead 293). It is indicative of his character that, as he was dying, he would be more concerned with getting Cora to safety than giving a sentimental statement about his love for her. Instead he mentions and implies his feelings for her after he reminds her of the way to escape.
Royal was depicted this way because it made his sacrifice appear even greater than if he had been a former slave. He was aware of the injustices slaves experienced, but he didn’t have first hand experience of those acts. Despite this, he is willing to leave the relative safety of the north to help the underground railroad save runaways. He sacrifices much of what he was born into to help and is eventually killed because of his association with Valentine’s Farm, but he accepted that and helped out the woman he loved as his final act.
Least Favorite-Terrance Randall- He is one of the most despicable characters in the entire novel. He is focused solely on making the plantation as efficient as possible with his only motivation being monetary gain. Instead of allowing the slaves some level of freedom as James did, he tries to control every moment of their lives. He doesn’t allow for large celebrations and beat a child simply for bumping into him. After Chester bumped into him, Terrance’s “crashed across [Chester’s] shoulder and head, again and again. The boy screamed and shrank to the dirt as the blows continued,” (Whitehead 34). Not only does terrance abuse children, but he cruelly tortures and abuses the slaves he intends to kill. After Big Anthony was caught running away, he is put in the stocks and humiliated for two days, then burned alive as the other slaves were forced to watch. In order to ensure his guests didn’t have to listen to Big Anthony’s screams, “his manhood had been cut off on the first day, stuffed in his mouth, and sewn in,” (Whitehead 47). Terrance was most likely depicted this way to reinforce the injustice of slavery. Additionally, Terrance was presented in contrast to Caesars Previous owner, who was kind and caring. She didn’t overwork him or his family. She was still a benevolent master who didn’t abuse her slaves, which makes Terrance appear crueler by comparison.
One of my favorite characters, besides Cora, is Royal. He is extremely positive despite how difficult it may be for him to maintain his freedom. Also, he is passionate about helping other African Americans be free and is fearless in the process. Even when his life was stolen from him by a white mob, he told Cora, “not to be afraid, the tunnel would save her again. ‘Go to the house in the woods. You can tell me where it goes’”(Whitehead 293). This made me favor Royal even more because he stayed strong in his final moments and motivated Cora to keep fighting for her freedom. This way, she could move on and continue to seek justice. I think Whitehead depicted Royal in this manner to show how many African Americans in history were positive, kind, and hopeful even though white Americans treated them brutally. This way, Americans can be apologetic for their past mistakes so that no innocent life is treated unfairly again. Other than Ridgeway, one of my least least favorite characters was Miss Lucy. I disliked her because even though she was supposedly promoting the advancement of the African American race, she would turn in any runaway slave she discovered. Therefore, Cora had to hide her true identity from her. Also, she used Cora by at first becoming acquainted with her. Then, she tried to convince her and her classmates to receive an operation that would take away their ability to have children. I was frustrated when she proceeded to tell Cora, “‘You could be a true credit to your race if you put your mind to it’”(131). She later continues with, “‘If you can’t see the difference between good, upstanding people and the mentally disturbed, with criminals and imbeciles, you’re not the person I thought you were”(131). This made me dislike Miss Lucy even more because she believes she is helping the African American race when really she is contributing to the racism. I think Whitehead depicted Lucy in this way to show that even individuals who claimed to be for the advancement of the African race can still be racist. Only those who believe in complete equality and freedom for all know the true meaning of justice.
Although he made a short apperance, one of my favorite characters was the slave "Michael" who could remember the entire of the Decleration of Independence. Although it was stated that he could not comprehend what he was reciting, I felt he held so much potential. I thought that if he had escaped and made his way to the north, and been taught, like how Cora was, he would be able to become quite knowledgable. He was first trained for this parlor trick by his old master, claiming it would be similar to training a parrot. However it is alluded that african americans are smarter, "merely glancing at the size of the skull told you that a n****r possessed a bigger brain than a bird" (32). I think it shows that even the most racist of plantation owners thought that slaves possessed some level of intelligence. His trick showed that they could learn, which made them more human. It was not something the reader needed to know, but it helped to show that the poor slaves had potential and can be impressive and learn new things, just like the reader can with all the resources we possess.
One of my least favorite characters also made a small apperance: Master James. After there was a scuffle with his brother, he was "more upset that his brother had touched his poroperty and before so many witnesses, than with Chester and Cora" (36). This really rubbed me the wrong way, it felt so capitalist, and had an air of toxic masculinity. He was so obbessed with not appearing weak in front of a crowd, and so concerned with no one, not even his brother touching his "property". It just really struck me wrong. WHitehead may have depicted him this way to show traits of society that he does not like. Putting them into a slave owner is an effective way to make him and even more hated character.
My favorite character other than Cora would have to be Royal. Royal was born as a free black man and despite being born as a free black man, he chose to devote his life to assisting enslaved people in their efforts to escape their masters like Cora did and become as free as they can. In a quote, this is stated, “‘You’re not on Randall anymore,’ Royal said. ‘You’re free,’” (Whitehead 272). This quote is showing Royal acknowledging Cora’s escape from the Randall plantation towards the beginning of the story and then he says she is free. Cora wouldn’t have been free if Royal had not helped her escape from Ridgeway and make her way on the underground railroad to Indiana and eventually to the Valentine plantation. In the end, Royal had his life taken during the raid on the Valentine plantation just after Lander was killed. Other than Ridgeway, my least favorite character is Fiona. Fiona is my least favorite character because she told the townspeople in North Carolina that Martin and Ethel had a black woman in their attic which led to Ridgeway taking Cora and Martin and Ethel getting tied to trees and stoned.
My favorite character in this novel was Ridgeway, though certainly not because of his actions. I felt that he was a walking enigma, a swirling tide of mystery that, even to his deathbed, was never quite fully understood or explained. He was a slave-catcher, but with a freedman sidekick. He always seemed cool and collected, yet became so infatuated with the case of Cora’s mother that he chased her across the country just to finally settle that score for himself. No matter what you might think he would do, Ridgeway would always defy expectations and surprise you. Like how he was kind enough to buy and raise Homer by himself after recognizing the boy as, “A kindred spirit” (Whitehead 206), yet cruel enough to view killing an annoying slave he had to deliver as, “a very small price to pay for silence and a restful mind” (Whitehead 216). Or that he survived being held at gunpoint and raiding Valentine’s Farm, yet (presumably) died after a simple tumble down some stairs in an underground railroad station. The constant antithesis of Ridgeway’s character helped provide both an interesting antagonist and character for this novel. He was not just a villain, but a human being, and it made any interaction with him all the more riveting. On a similar note, my least favorite character in the novel was Terrance Randall. Though he may have been an antagonist like Ridgeway, his character was given far less attention or thought, which obviously shows. Terrance Randall is merely evil for the sake of being evil, rather than having any depth to his character like the slave hunter does. He doesn’t have any particular motivations, desires, or flaws. He doesn’t even have any interesting friends, as, after his father died, he and his brother, “had cut off social ties with their father’s peers and protégés” (Whitehead 44). He was simply just used as an excuse to make Cora agree to run away with Caesar. Life was tolerable under James Randall, but Terrance Randall is evil and cruel, so now Cora must leave. Nothing about Terrance gives him any more personality than the evil villain he is portrayed as, and so I found him to be boring, predictable, and my least favorite character.
Post a Comment