The North Summary Ridgeway, wanting to see the underground railroad for himself, orders Cora to lead him and Homer there. Cora guides them to the abandoned station. She asks Ridgeway to undo her shackles so that she can help dig out the entrance, and he agrees. Once the entrance is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 12Summary and Analysis Chapter 11
Mabel Summary Chapter 11 jumps back in time to the night Mabel escaped from the Randall plantation. She left Cora behind with an apology to the sleeping girl, carrying a sack of vegetables dug up from her garden. She remembered how Moses, one of the slave bosses, had been raping […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 11Summary and Analysis Chapter 10
Indiana Summary Cora’s rescuers, led by a freeborn black man named Royal, take her through the underground railroad to a farm in Indiana. Royal and his partner Red had been in Tennessee to rescue Justin, another escaped slave who is the third man traveling with them. When Royal had seen […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 10Summary and Analysis Chapter 9
Caesar Summary Chapter 9 leaps back in time to describe Caesar’s life on the Randall plantation. After living a comparatively privileged life as a Virginia slave, Caesar was bound to try to escape from the more obviously oppressive Randall plantation—although he had needed Fletcher’s encouragement to put the plan in […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 9Summary and Analysis Chapter 8
Tennessee Summary Having been captured by Ridgeway, Cora now travels in a wagon with Ridgeway and two of his cronies, Boseman and Homer. Boseman is the prototypical slave catcher, with a fondness for violence. Homer is a small black boy about 10 years old, who Ridgeway bought as a slave […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 8Summary and Analysis Chapter 7
Ethel Summary Chapter 7 goes back in time to provide the story of Ethel’s life. Ever since she was a child, Ethel dreamed of traveling to Africa as a missionary; she loved the idea of being revered by the “savage” inhabitants of Africa. Her family owned a slave named Felice […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 7Summary and Analysis Chapter 6
North Carolina Summary Cora has no way of knowing how long she remains trapped underneath Sam’s house in the darkness. As she waits, she worries about what has become of Caesar, wishing the two of them had left South Carolina when they had the chance. A train finally appears but […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 6Summary and Analysis Chapter 5
Stevens Summary Chapter 5 leaps back in time to give a snapshot of Aloysius Stevens, the doctor who tried to convince Cora to be sterilized in the previous chapter, during his medical school days. Stevens was a medical student in Boston and worked the night shift at the school’s anatomy […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 5Summary and Analysis Chapter 4
South Carolina Summary The underground railroad brings Cora and Caesar to South Carolina, where a station agent named Sam meets them. Sam provides forged papers that identify them as free people. To protect their identities, their names are changed: Cora becomes Bessie Carpenter, and Caesar becomes Christian Markson. Cora works […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 4Summary and Analysis Chapter 3
Ridgeway Summary Arnold Ridgeway, the slave catcher who dedicates himself to finding Cora, has been a slave catcher since age 14. The son of a blacksmith, Ridgeway wanted a career in which he could excel without being trapped in his father’s shadow. The quickly expanding business of slave-catching offered the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 3