Ms. Hen reviews The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead

Anchor Books

2016

Ms. Hen decided to read this simply because she had heard it was good. She is always interested in reading about American slavery and the plight of African Americans, because she likes to read about tormented souls. Ms. Hen thinks that the best literature is about people with messed up lives. She likes to read about other people’s problems.

When Ms. Hen started reading this, she couldn’t get the book she had read recently, KINDRED, out of her head. KINDRED is also about slavery in the South, but it is more of a science fiction novel. Ms. Hen expected that this book would be similar to that in the way that it was magical and fanciful, but it was not as she expected. Yes, the part about the Underground Railroad actually being a railroad is fascinating, but in the beginning, she wanted more fantasy. But as she got into the book, she realized it is not like this, and she got into the story.

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD is about Cora, a slave in Georgia, who lives in the house on the plantation where the outcast women live. She is ostracized because her mother ran away when she was young. She has a difficult life growing up without a mother, and always wanted to know what became of her. She is chosen by one of the men, Caesar, to go with him when he escapes, because she is a lucky charm, for the obvious fact that her mother managed to get away. They run and are almost caught. They find the Underground Railroad and are whisked away on a locomotive to safety and possibly freedom.

Cora goes with Caesar to South Carolina to find a thriving former slave community there. They manage to start to have a life, but she is almost caught. Cora goes to the underground railroad and ends up in North Carolina. She travels around until she finds people to help her.

The runaway slaves have a difficult life trying to make their way in the world. Ms. Hen has read many books about this, but this one is different. This novel has a fairy tale essence to it, it seems like it is meant to be a dream. Cora suffers and struggles, but she has a will to survive. The railroad is a symbol for all the people that made it, a symbol of perseverance and determination and dreams of a better life. Ms. Hen can imagine what it’s like to run for her life, and be terrified. That’s what reading fiction helps us to do.

There are lots of chickens and hens in this book, which made Ms. Hen happy. One of the other slaves on the plantation in Georgia, Ava, wanted Cora’s small plot of land, “She cherished her chickens more than those children and coveted Cora’s land to expand her coop.” Cora has a piece of land where she grows vegetables. Ms. Hen thinks it’s strange that a woman loved chickens more than her children, but in their time, some things didn’t make sense.

Ms. Hen truly loved this book. It has an airy, lightweight, but heavy, contradictory way about it. It is a road novel, an adventure novel, and a novel about a woman who overcomes great hardship. Readers should aspire to Cora’s strength. Ms. Hen recommends this novel to anyone who wants to be inspired to carry on.