The Boundaries And Transgressions In The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad(2016)by Colson Whitehead tells the story of the slave Cora,who flees from a Georgia plantation,running northbound with the help of the Underground Railroad.The theme of transgression is outstanding in the work.This thesis studies transgression in The Underground Railroad in light of Michel Foucault,Chris Jenks and Mikhail Bakhtin's thoughts of transgression.Accordingly,this thesis firstly elaborates on the boundaries set upon the African Americans.Spatially,there is discordance between the South Confederacy and the North Union as well as within the two factions over the boundaries set upon the African Americans.The juxtaposition of the discordant parties forms the collage of The Divided States of America.Temporally,behind the variations of the boundaries,there is a consistent history of racial hysteria,conveying the persistence and stubbornness of racism in America.Secondly,this thesis analyzes the construction of the boundaries.The religious construction in the Christian Bible and government propaganda of Manifest Destiny of America are the two bedrocks of the boundary.Ordinary whites,who follow blindly authoritative instructions and mass opinions,and internalized blacks,who identify with white ideologies and collude with whites,are the accomplices who strengthen the boundary.Finally,this thesis discusses transgressions ideologically and practically that contribute to the social uplift of the African Americans.The thesis concludes that transgression plays a positive role in the evolutionary process of American ethnic relations.The evolvement from monopolar hegemony,bipolar antagonism to multipolar coexistence that is delineated in The Underground Railroad mirrors the historical changes of the conception of ethnic relations from the American melting pot,salad bowl to the tapestry culture.