“My biggest concern is that my students walk away thinking it was an actual train,” she joked, mentioning a reality TV star who was confused on that point.Ĭruz enumerated some facts about the true underground railroad, which was mostly run by “everyday black folks,” not white abolitionists, and which was primarily operated in states bordering free states, as it was too dangerous to run such an operation in more southern states. Whitehead employs creative license to great effect, but it can also lead to some confusion said Assistant Professor Tatiana Cruz. Needless to say, the journey, like those of real escapees, does not go smoothly. In particular, he writes the railroad as a physical, underground mode of transportation that conveys Cora from state to state. At first glance it seems like many a historical novel, but the Pulitzer Prize-winning Whitehead turns a number of familiar literary tropes upside down in his genre-bending story. The story centers on Cora, a young woman enslaved in Georgia who attempts to escape via the Underground Railroad.
If you haven’t read it yet, here’s a summary.
In anticipation of Colson Whitehead’s visit to campus, three Lesley professors held a symposium in Washburn Lounge to discuss fact, fiction and fantasy in the author’s acclaimed novel, “The Underground Railroad.” Approximately 40 students, faculty and staff participated in the event.
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