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Foreshadowing In The Underground Railroad

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As Thucydides once said, “The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage.” The beautiful thing about this quote is that it is short and sweet, but still hits the nail on the head. One of the main issues preventing the escape of slaves was a lack of knowledge and education. They either did not have the knowledge to escape or the courage to go through with it. Luckily, Cora had both traits and a mother who shared them with her. In The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, the literary devices of foreshadowing and imagery are used to show that Cora was predestined to run away as the pursuit of freedom is her family inheritance. As this story is about the Underground Railroad, the setting plays an integral role. …show more content…
The first few chapters of the book introduce the notion that Cora was predestined to run away because her mother, Mabel, also ran away—running away and pursuing freedom is her family “inheritance.” Even though Cora hates her mother for abandoning her to a life of captivity, the second to last chapter confirms that Mabel believed that by running away she would plant the idea of freedom in Cora’s mind. Once she started running, it became her identity, and she would never look back. A slave on the run in the pursuit of freedom was who her mother was, and that is who she would be through and …show more content…
Cora’s transition from the beginning of the book with her hatred towards Mabel to the end of the book with her understanding of why she left her was really great to see. Having the story come full circle and learning why Mabel left made it pretty clear that Cora would do the same as it is in her blood. The saying like father like son is really applicable here, because while they might not be men, these two share the same blood type. No, not a, b, ab, or o. These two have fighters blood, the kind of blood that will not let anything deter them no matter what obstacle is in the

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