Research On Human Evils In The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead(1969-)is a prominent contemporary African American writer who has won the National Book Award,the Genius Arthur Award,the Pulitzer Prize,and other honors.Domestic and international readers appreciate his works for his varied literary styles.As the longest time-consuming masterpiece,The Underground Railroad(2016)sets in the nineteenth century on the plantations of the American South.It tells the story of the thrilling journey of Cora,a black slave,who escapes from the plantation through the underground railroad and goes all the way to the north in pursuit of freedom.It also aims to show the darkness of the American plantation slavery.So far,scholars at home and abroad have mainly focused on the narrative techniques of the novel,interpreting the text from the perspectives of trauma theory,spatial theory and new historicism theory.At the same time,little research has been done on the ethical issues of slavery humanity involved in the novel.Therefore,this paper takes Hannah Arendt’s(1906-1975)thoughts on the radical evil and banality of evil under totalitarianism as a theoretical framework to explain the plight of black people.Through textual analysis,the thesis intends to explore the human construction of slavery on black and white people,reveal the struggle of black groups and white abolitionists against the evil of human nature,and highlight the author’s reflections on the history of racism and the contemporary racial issues in the United States.The thesis is divided into five chapters.Chapter one introduces Whitehead’s life,the background of the novel,an overview of the current research at home and abroad,and the innovation of this thesis.Arendt argues that totalitarianism turns people into a superfluous existence through the panic created by eliminating humanity.Under this terror,human beings become the unity of victims and perpetrators,the spokesman of radical evil and banality of evil.Chapter two discusses the manifestations of radical evil in the novel.Arendt argues that radical evil has gone beyond the traditional definition and understanding,and previous standards can not interpret it.Therefore,it is unpunishable,unforgivable,and incomprehensible.It firstly deprives blacks legal status,making them marginal to the law and redundant.Then,it eliminates the humanity of blacks,turning them into commodities.Finally,it punishes and educates blacks through panoramic executions.At the expense of black people’s rights,the United States achieved the rapid development of capitalism,a typical representative of radical evil.Chapter three focuses on the banality of evil in the novel.This chapter consists of three parts.Firstly,the indifference toward the fellow race and the neglect of justice are explored to ascertain the inaction.Secondly,the egoist and the henchman are analyzed to show the thoughtlessness.Finally,it discusses the loss of moral judgment through the degradation of cognition and distorted values.Arendt believes that thinking is a human gift,but not all people have the ability.Because of the lack of thinking and moral judgment,the young white girl reports her biological parents for harboring black boys,and Fiona reveals her employer,the Martins,for adopting Cora.They both become perpetrators and victims under the evil panic,directly or indirectly.Chapter four discusses the homogeneity of kindness and evil.Arendt argues that kindness and evil are not opposites,“either evil or kindness”,but interdependent and interpenetrating.In terms of affection,Nag’s mother’s sexual teaching and Cora’s mother’s return are the extraordinary love of a mother for her children.In terms of friendship,the white abolitionist and the station master’s sacrifice to help fugitive blacks testify to the value of company.In terms of love,Cora’s two lovers,Cesar and Royal,complete Cora’s missing emotion mentally and physically.The image of kindness amid evil under the horror of racial totalitarianism also symbolizes Whitehead’s wish in the light of the triumph of black people’s pursuit of freedom and equality.Chapter five is the conclusion.By summarizing the previous analysis,the thesis points out that the essence of plantation slavery in the nineteenth century is a violent system in which the logic of capital in the United States overrides the individual,using the elimination of humanity as a means to achieve the final goal of enslavement.In The Underground Railroad,Whitehead critiques American society and culture,capitalism and racial discrimination through the evil of racial totalitarianism experienced by Cora on her thrilling fugitive journey.The thesis’ reflections on the evils of human nature and warnings about racial issues in today’s American society are also of realistic significance.