The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead

Characters
Plantation	Railroad	Others
Cora Ajarry – grandmother Mabel – mother, ran away Caesar – woodworker Lovey – Cora’s friend Chester – slave, no parents Jockey – oldest slave Hob – cabin of banishment James and Terrance Randall – Plantation Owners Connelly - overseer	Georgia: Mr. Fletcher – shopkeeper, sold Caesar’s bowls, told him about railroad Lumbly – agent South Carolina: Sam North Carolina: Martin Wells – station agent – station closed Ethel – wife Fiona – Irish house maid Jasmine – slave from Ethel’s childhood, raped by father Rescuers: Royal – born free Red	Mrs. Garner – Caesar’s first owner, taught him to read Arnold Ridgeway – slave catcher, could not match his father’s talent Anatomy House of the Proctor Medical School: Aloysius Stevens South Carolina: Mr. and Mrs. Anderson – employed Cora after escape Massie and Raymond – children Miss Lucy – proctor in dorm Miss Handler – teacher Museum of Natural Wonders – Cora “acted” in three exhibits North Carolina: Jamison – slave hunter Richard – new recruit “Friday Festival” Tennessee: Ridgeway Boseman Little Homer – free slave Jasper – captured slave Indiana: John (passed for white) and Gloria Valentine – farm owner Elijah Lander Mingo – informer about runways on farm

 For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1. Discuss Ridgeway.  How did his failure to meet his father’s talent as an ironworker influence his choice to become a slave catcher?
2. Discuss Ethel Wells.  As a youngster she played with Jasmine but at age 8 was no longer allowed to do so.  Her father raped Jasmine and fathered a child by her.  How do these experiences explain her behavior when her husband brought Cora home?  Do you think Ethel was gay?  Does that have any bearing on the story?
3. Discuss the motivation of the helpers in South Carolina: education, jobs, sterilization, syphilis experiment.  At one point, Cora thought, “But the ideals they help up for themselves, they denied others” (page 117).  What exactly was their motivation in helping?   Can you see both positive and negative motivations?   Was it possible for them to think differently given the historical period?
4. When Cora was in the museum displays in South Carolina, she picked out one viewer per hour and gave them the “evil eye” (page 125).  What did she hope to accomplish?  Were you surprised she looked at Massie this way? Do you think she should have felt differently toward Massie?
5. Were you surprised at Ridgeway’s positive assessment of Mabel and Cora?  He said, “People like you and your mother are the best of your race.... We can’t have you so fit you outrun us” (“Tennessee” chapter, page 223). 
6. Caesar blamed his first owner, Mrs. Garner, for his and his parents’ fate and not the niece who sold them with the estate because they had not been set free in a will.  Was this fair?
7. When the Valentine Farm was raided, people blamed Mingo as the informer.  Was he right to turn in the runaway slaves to protect the free blacks?
8. What was the author’s purpose in including the story of Stevens and the grave robbers?   Stevens thought, “…when his classmates put their blades to a colored cadaver, they did more for the cause of colored advancement than the most high-minded abolitionist.  In death the negro became a human being.  Only then was he the white man’s equal” (“Stevens” chapter, page 139).  How did this add to your understanding of the story?
9. Did you learn anything new about how slaves were treated in America?  Did you gain any new insights or understandings?

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First Semester Success, 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy at amazon.com and hard copy at www.wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.