"Conduction" has more than one meaning for Hiram. In pre-Civil War Virginia, people who are white, whatever their degree of refinement, are considered "the Quality" while those who are black, whatever their degree of dignity, are regarded as "the Tasked." Whether such euphemisms for slavery actually existed in the 19th century, they are evocatively deployed in this account of the Underground Railroad and one of its conductors: Hiram Walker, one of the Tasked who's barely out of his teens when he's recruited to help guide escapees from bondage in the South to freedom in the North. When an author is able to make his protagonist feel as real as Hiram, then you know you are in for a real treat.The celebrated author of Between the World and Me (2015) and We Were Eight Years in Power (2017) merges magic, adventure, and antebellum intrigue in his first novel. Hiram Walker’s story of slavery and his trials and tribulations is a story of not one person but many. The novel was written in 2019 and was easily one of my favorite books released that year. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote a beautiful story in the form of a letter to his son called Between the World and Me that is worth checking out. In an age when politicians and conservatives are censoring books about critical race theory and the LGBTQ, it is a good reminder that real people are affected. Not many stories are captured from different views and work but this makes the book exceptionally great.Ī fact that we often forget is that slavery is not that old.
This book could have focused on just Hiram and his struggle but Coates wanted to make sure that was the last thing he did. Hiram learns as do the burden of women and how it differed from men. But above else, it is a tragic tale of a boy separated from his mother and traumatized as a result.Ĭoates does a wonderful job capturing the struggle of slaves in Virginia and does an even better job of telling the story for men and women. But he adds a supernatural aspect to the novel that the reader can take to mean various things. T a-Nehisi Coates captures the struggle of Hiram and does not hold back. This is a powerful novel that I believe everyone should read. With the help of his mother through his visions, Hiram tries to break the chains of slavery and start over Commentary He yearns for freedom and will do anything to escape.
One day, Hiram has had enough of being a slave and decided to make a run for it.
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