The novel The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is full of ahistorical elements. In a book about slavery in America, his use of ahistorical elements results in a commentary on racial discrimination and abuse in a unique, narrative way. He portrays every state differently, using each of them as an example of a different type of discrimination. South Carolina is represented as a “progressive” and modern state, with new and innovative ideas on how to treat slaves. It even has the Griffin Building to represent its modernism, even though that wasn 't built historically until 1910. Colson Whitehead chose to represent South Carolina ahistorically to comment on how racism and discrimination continued after the abolition of slavery, and he did this by incorporating elements of American culture and discriminatory decisions that did not appear historically until after the abolition.
Whitehead uses the section of his book that takes place in South Carolina to comment on the racial segregation prevalent in America in the early-mid 20th century. In South Carolina as it appears in The Underground Railroad, slaves are owned by the state government and assigned to work in their own communities. They are given amenities such as housing and money for food in return for their services, but they are required to stay separate from the white community. “Bessie greeted the other residents as they crossed each other on the sidewalk.Most were returning from work. Others departed to watch over