Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a system to help fugitive slaves escape to the Northern United States, or Canada. In the Underground Railroad, the places where the slaves would sleep and eat were called “stations” and “depots.” These places were run by “stationmasters,” and “conductors” were the ones responsible for moving slaves from station to station.
Berlin Crossroads
The Berlin Crossroads are located near the city of Jackson, Ohio. This community was mostly an African-American Community. The Berlin Crossroads were a played a vital role in the Underground Railroad. Many families would use their houses as stations to help fugitive slaves hide. Upon arriving, the stationmasters would help to reroute the slaves to Chillicothe or Washington Court House.
North Star
Many slaves would use the North Star to point them in the right direction. They would look in the sky for the little dipper and go to the end of the handle where the North Star would be. At night, they would travel in the direction of the north star to make it to freedom. This star played a crucial role in the Underground Railroad and making it to freedom.
Nicodemus and Abednego both followed the North Star until they came up to a river that they thought was the River Jordan, but turned out to be the Kanawha River.
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River is located in West Virginia and parts of western Virginia. Most Native Americans identify the Kanawha and the New River as one big river, and Thomas Jefferson combined the New and Kanawha River as one and referred to it as “The Great Kanawha”
After getting their bearings, the boys would continue following the North Star to Pomeroy.
Pomeroy House
Pomeroy House was located in Ohio that served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Runaway slaves would be brought to the Pomeroy House often concealed under bales of hay in wagons, and hidden in the cellar of the house. Slaves would hide here until they could be taken to Rocky River to board ships that head to Canada.
River Jordan
The River Jordan was a symbol of the dividing line between freedom and slavery. During slavery, the river was known as the “River Jordan,” but today it is now known as the “Ohio River.” Many Slaves crossed the river to make it to the freedom of the northern United States.
After the boys crossed the river, their guide would lead them to a little town in Ohio called Athens.
Athens
Athens Ohio is home to Ohio University but was also home to Underground Railroad stations. Washington Street was where many of the Underground Railroad houses were located at. Many slaves would come through here on the way to Canada or farther North.
Themes
The primary portion of this chapter is dedicated to the escape of Nicodemus and Abednego.
Ghost Trees
The chapter starts off with a reference again to the ghost trees, and how Nicodemus would play his reed flute while nustled away inside the Sycamore. Though this tree also held a secret cache of supples that the Abyssinian Queen had stashed for her children's eventual escape. (pg 90-91)
Ghost trees come up later on in where on their course Nicodemus and Abednego would take refuge in one that could “fit a whole family” (pg 104)
“Indeed the ghost tree knew what the boys did not know, that over the years families of runaways had taken refuge inside its trucnk, some even staying for days on end.”
Innocence in the face of Dire Straights
One night the boys are caught playing out in the snow, catching flurries on their tongues, This leads them into the confrontation with Mrs. Fairfield (pg 92)
Later on this arises again when the boys are again being of childish innocence in their ice skating activities on the Ohio River (pg)
Mrs. Fairfield Infidelity
Due to Mr. Fairfield's affairs with other women Mrs. Fairfield has purchased a “play toy” of her own. When the boys are out playing in the snow they catch Mrs. Fairfield returning from her act of infidelity. (pg 94)
Summons Served, Threat leveled
Mrs. Fairfield, in catching the boys outside and witnessing her activities levels a severe warning towards the boys...this threat motivates the boys to flight earlier than ideal (pg 95-96)
Dream Allocation
The Abyssinian Queen has a tradition with her children in giving them a specific dream before they are to go to bed, so as to motivate them and teach them of how to escape and live after they attain freedom. This is brought to light on pg 97 when the boys do not show up for dinner
Sciolist leadings
Pg 98 speaks again of the Sciolist, motivating the boys to a winter escape
Saving Mistakes
Initially on the outset Nicodemus and Abednego went the wrong way, which in essence may have saved them. Which this saving mistake misleads the trackers in that they initially headed north, not south as the boys have (pg 99)
Another mistake that may have saved the boys is that leaving in winter provided them cover for their scent and their tracks in that heavy snow concealed the escape (pg 99)
“The Abyssinian Queen's blood drew maps of red on the virgin snow...” (pg 101)
During her beating for the escape of her children the Queen is said to have bleed patterns into the snow, reminiscent of the patterned quilts she had designed to facilitate her children's escape creating a full circle in this theme.
Also during the beating Mrs. Fairfield enlightens us to a “botched wedding” which was not explained in this chapter...
“Wade in the water, wade in the water, children. Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water” (pg 102)
Several metaphors are used to guide the boys. One such metaphor is Evil Spirits do not cross water...which actually the water throws the scent dogs off your trial
This also ties in with such metaphors as “the drunkards path” where as a only evil follows a straight line (pg 106) and “the monkey wrench” which drove home the idea of preparedness...some of the symbols though were not dicernable by the boys, such as “the shoofly,” “the boy tie,” and other symbols (pg 110) that would eventually come to mean such prophetic things to come in the future.
Blue Fly
On page 103 we are introduced to the idea of “the Blue fly” which reoccurs throughout the chapter. Blue fly is believed by the boys to be a good spirit because they recognized a blue fly at Fairfield Farms and reckoned that any life, let alone something as rare as a blue fly, must be of good spirit“A fluorescent blue fly, almost as big as Abednego's pinkie, appeared from nowhere. A fly in the middle of winter was an unusual sight, let alone its size and color”
Singing the Sun to sleep
Nicodemus and Abednego recall on pg 105 how their mother had a habit of singing the sun to sleep at the end of each day. The Abyssinian Queen had habits of this style, such as lullabies for each day of the week. The boys imagined that their mother was singing to the stars to safeguard their flight.
Wolf In Sheeps Clothing
"He introduced himself as an abolitionist who would save them and lead them safely across the Ohio River" (pg 107) when actually he was a slave trader. This comes to be important because later on when introduced to white abolishionists the boys are leary (pg 118)
Memories
On pg 110 the boys have discovered they have lost one of the quilts...the quilts that are not only their roadmap to freedom but the only link they have with their mother, the boys relish and take comfort in the remaining quilt they have..."The Abyssinian Queen. They needed to feel close to her. The quilts. Their odor will bring her close."
They called him Birdman
"They were startled by the approach of a huge black man..." (pg 114) The boys encounter a gentleman only known as birdman. He is a true abolisionist yet the first free black man the boys encounter.
Birdman occurs as the boys saving grace in that he ushers them into Athens where there is a safe house on the Underground Railroad
Its not Underground, its not a Railroad
Starting on pg 115 we learn of the Underground Railroad...where abolitionists house refugee slaves and assist them on the journey to freedom. We learn of a safe house in Athens run by a middle aged white man with well nourished pink cheeks. The conductor at this house is very cautious and has caught wind of both slave chasers looking for "the quilt code" and imposter slaves who are actually espionage agents for slave chasers.
Its not a rag, its history
The conductor of the Athens house states that quilts are useless now...yet is corrected by Birdman. Birdman states that quilts are history, heritage, and memories of what is important. With Birdman's explination the boys turn to cherish the quilt they have left...with Abednego keeping possession of it througout his life "And the sampler! Oh, the sampler! He would jealously guard it for it was the only memory of his [dea] brother that was left."(pg 121)
It's name was changed to Kilvert
Wrapping up the chapter we see that Abednego, after his brother's death moved to Tabler Town, which eventually was changed to Kilvert (pg 120) Here he settles down with a tribe of Natives who also harbor escaped slaves.
His blood boiled with anger
Abednego resented what happened to his brother, his family, his world after his freedom. He was a very bitter man, making free life very hard. His anger subsides though when he, eventualy falls in love with a Native woman he marries.
She who laughs last laughs best
"[Abednego] never got to know that the blue fly returned and hovered over her [The Queen], and she died with a broad smile on her face." (pg 121) The blue fly theme comes to a conclusion with its reporting of Abednego making it to safety and being free...free at last free at last, lord almighty free at last...
Questions
With Abednego's settling in Tabler Town, what does this lead us to believe about Kilvert. Its history, its legacy, its family tree?
What affects made the escape more difficult...addressing such issues as Nicodemus and Abednego never seeing the outside world and Abednego knowing nothing but captivity prior to his freedom?
18 comments:
This was a very good summary. I like how detailed it was and good quotes were used from the book. It was interesting to me that the question brought up about the town Abednego settled in is correlated with the quiqleys.
The fact that he settles in Kilvert and marries a Native American woman definitely tells us that there is a relationship between the Quigley family and the two boys.
Being winter might have been the most difficult thing for the boys to overcome on the journey. Not only does this make Abednego sick, but it also makes them take risk such as, not finding food, frostbite, getting sick, and other results from the cold weather.
The fact that The Quigleys live in Kilvert, which is where Abednego settles down with a Native American girl, is not a coincidence to me. There has got to be a family connection with Abednego and the Quigleys.
Nice touch with the laser pointer.
Good use of themes.
One question was something that could be obvious...how Kilvert was where Abednego settled
The other question was more of a creative answer one, a "what if" type question where there is no real right or wrong answer
1. Kilvert has history and it is an important place in the history of the Underground Railroad.
2. Effects that made the escape more difficult were the Winter. It was harder on the boys health and bodies. Also not knowing where they were going played an important role because they got lost and ended up in trouble
The effects that made the escape difficult was that they starting off going south and that it was winter. But in the end they both helped the boys out in there escape. The presentation was really good and I thought they did a great group at stating the settings and the themes of the chapter.
This group was very insightful with how they delivered their information. Glen did a very thorough job on the themes. He explored every aspect of the chapter. Overall this presentation was was very thorough and good. Well Done.
I think the Tabler Town aka Kilvert has a lot of history in it. The town is a breeding ground for a new race of Africans and Native Americans. This makes it special and has a lot to do with the underground railroad. Due to the fact that it was winter it made the escape for the boys more difficult. However it ended up helping them in some ways such as their footsteps being covered with snow and scents harder to track. It was a huge shock for the boys to see outside Fairfield Farms but i think that with all the things working against them they did a good job making their escape.
1. Kilvert became a melting pot for cultures that are marginalized by society. It is a refuge for their tradition, way of life, and heritage.
I feel this discussion went very well with a lot of detail that added to my understanding of the chapter. It was good that we discussed the connection with the town and the Quiqleys because I feel this will come up throughout the book. I agree the escape was difficult for the boys because it was something completely new to them.
I think that Kilvert has a very diverse cultural background and that the Quigleys are descendants of former slaves as well as Native Americans.
I also agree that Nicodemus and Abednego had a hard time finding their way to freedom because they had never been outside of the Fairfield Plantation.
1.) The settling leads us to believe that obed and his family could be descendants of abdnego.
2.) It was difficult to travel due to the weather and the new world which they had no idea about.
Very!! detailed, great quotes, and a lot of info, well done.
With the themes and settings we were given everything from the chapter and then some. It was brief but to the point that we knew where each setting was or how the theme played into the chapter.
Kilvert is the home of the Quigley family and the Native Americans that Abed is always talking about were mentioned at the end of the chapter so we know that it is going to come back to us in even more detail.
The town of Kilvert seems like an important town, it was started by a man who wanted to get away from a girl's father so he could marry her because he loved her and then this town turned into a place where the native americans and african americans took refuge together and started their own race. Also, the Quigleys live here which is important in the book. The winter obviously made the boys' escape much harder because it was cold and the land was bare with little hiding. And Abednego seemed kind of bitter from being a slave and not knowing anything else once he was finally free.
Good presentation both of you.
Tabbler town has a deep history in the underground railroad and native american life.
The boys start off in the wrong direction and left during the winter, a tumultuous beginning to their escape.
1. Kilvert is where the Quigleys live. So one would guess that there is a relationship between the boys and the Quigleys
2. The fact that it was winter was probably the hardest thing. Traveling in the winter is not a fun thing to do. The fact they went south first didn't help them either.
The first question definitely opens up the door to how Kilvert became the home to the "WIN" people (the Quigley family as an example).
I believe that there were many different factors that hindered the boys escape and not one specific. As Glen said it is more of a what if question.
Unreal amount of info that both of you covered and you both covered it in the short time you had. Great job ol' chums
I feel that based upon Abednego marrying a Native American girl from Kilvert that that will lead to information about the family tree of Obed. The escape would be made a lot more difficult because they had never been outside the plantation and didn't know exactly where they were going. Overall this was a good presentation. Great Job guys!
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