Beloved, By Toni Morrison

In Toni Morrison’s eye-opening novel, Beloved, readers are given an insightful look into the lives of ex-slaves, who’s freedom never was able to erase the past scars of slavery. Morrison uses this novel to show that the hardest part of being a slave may have finding a way to live with the constant reminders of the pain that was endured. Morrison, using her novel, is able to show readers the actions that occurred during slavery that have not been put into textbooks or history lessons. She describes, in detail, the gruesome actions that people try to ignore, but slaves were never able to forget. One detail about slavery that is included in Morrison’s novel is the Underground Railroad. Sethe, the main character is able to use it to escape Sweet
From this point on, an ‘Underground Railroad’ was made in order to help runaway slaves reach 14 northern states and even Canada. Around 1831, this method of escaping slaves coined the name the Underground Railroad, despite not being underground or consisting of any railways. The term ‘underground’ was meant to describe the slyness and secretiveness of helping the slave’s escapes. Most movements were carried our in secret in the darkness. Many railway terms were used as well, such as ‘stations,’ ‘depots,’ and ‘conductors.’ Conductors were the people who helped slaves escapes, who used disguises and their own homes to help slaves on the move. Stations were homes that slaves could stay in to rest; these homes were usually spread out by ten to twenty miles. Surprisingly, many escapes were unplanned and spontaneous, and usually based off an escapee’s resourcefulness and luck. The most active conductors of the Underground Railroad were mostly northern free blacks and some white abolitionists. These conductors were able to help many slaves escape from the terrors of slavery, and lent a helping hand to the 100,000 lost slaves in the south from