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Examples Of Allusions In The Underground Railroad

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In The Underground Railroad, written by Colson Whitehead, there are many noticeable allusions that the author has creatively used to indirectly reference different historical ideas, documents, or events. Whitehead uses the Declaration of Independence, the Freedom Trail, and of course, the Underground Railroad to create a more meaningful narrative. Allusions help connect the novel to historical themes that end up making the story intriguing. Throughout the book, the allusion to the Declaration of Independence is ironic given the circumstances. On Randall's plantation, Michael, a slave, was taught to recite long passages and one passage was the Declaration of Independence. It’s ironic because before Michael was beaten to death, he knew the Declaration of Independence even though he …show more content…

Michael could have been taught anything to say, such as a Shakespearean monologue, but is taught one about freedom as a right, despite not having freedom. Additionally, it devalues the Declaration of Independence because the guests don’t seem to value the message it holds, despite being important to the founding of the country. This reveals the hypocrisy of society at the time for valuing freedom while still denying basic rights to a group of people simply because of their skin color. This is mentioned time and time again from the beginning to the end of the novel. The first time it is mentioned is when the white men on the Randall plantation are talking about a young boy named Michael. Michael was taught by a former master how to recite long passages of text, and one of the passages he knew was the Declaration of Independence. This itself was ironic because before Michael was beaten to death by Connelly, he knew the Declaration of Independence and he was not independent at all considering he was enslaved for his whole life and ended up dying a slave so he was never

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