In the Novel "The Underground Railroad," we watch and see as Cora's whirlwind-of-a-life leads her into new difficulties and challenges-whether that's beneficial or not. As she travels state to state, Cora somehow develops new obstacles that she has to be willing to face if her life is something she wants to protect and keep.
Cora's life in Georgia
In the midst of heartache after Mabel's departure, Cora finds herself caught in the midst of the over-populated Randall Plantation, which holds thousands of slaves captive. Living amongst violence and cowardly behavior, Cora finds herself becoming strengthened but bruised by the conditions she has naturally conformed to, and intervenes in a physical conflict, defending Chester who was being maltreated by the owner of the plantation, Randall. Caesar, gawked by Cora's boldness, decides to run away with Cora and another slave, Lovey to try and fight for their lives. Through their journey, they stumble across Mr. Fletcher, as he guides them to the secret of the Underground Railroad--which they hope leads to freedom once and for all.
Cora's life in South Carolina
Soon, they are let off in South Carolina, not being able to navigate where exactly they are. Enduring hardships and tribulation that corrupted Cora's mind, she was uncertain of what to expect going into a completely new habitat. Quite rapidly, Cora, Chester, and Lovey were handed counterfeit identities so they could live safely in the state of South Carolina without being questioned about who they were, how they got there, and where they came from. They viewed these forged identities as a gateway to freedom and safety, so much so that Cora was resistant about leaving. Unpleasingly, Cora discovers the sterilization that is being given to her roommates, attempting to lower the population of African Americans, which enrages and terrifies her. This inclines Cora to flee out of the state as soon as she could catch the locomotive, even if it meant leaving her only friends. This harassment called scientific racism was shown as "White, male Europeans using race science—embodied in ideologies such as social Darwinism and eugenics--to justify their nations’ conquest, enslavement and extermination of non-white people."
Cora's life in North Carolina
A station agent, Martin, takes Cora up under his wing and warns her of the hunt in North Carolina they have for slave escapee's. He promises to protect her and keep her hidden as long as she is living in the state, so he provides her with a livable, non-luxurious place to rest her head at night and stay during the day. Fearful of execution, Cora remains silent and timid as time passes. However, becoming suspicious of the religion Cora feels like Martin and his wife are trying to "force" upon her, she goes and turns them in as people who have favored and homed her. Soon enough, Cora watched as they both were stoned to death, due to unreliability between them. Now, Cora is taken to her next destination--Tennessee.
Cora's life in Tennessee
Interestingly enough, Tennessee treats her better than expected. Unable to resist the fact she is chained, I believe Cora finds a small portion of joy in the fact that she no longer has to run, scared for her life. She no longer has to cry for help, wondering where to go next. Sitting in shackles, she finds freedom in sitting alone, seeing from an outside view that the white's were getting what they deserved--punishment for their criminalistic acts and evil wrongdoings, Finally, Cora felt a sense payback towards them because of their willingness to steal the land, and more importantly, enslaving people who were undeserving of that kind of treatment and demand.
Cora's life in Indiana
Now residing with former slaves and free black people, I'm sure that Cora had to feel a sense of comfort and stability because of both of these groups situations. They were people she could relate and bond with, while discussing struggles and the pain that has been caused in each individual life. I believe in Indiana, Cora feels the most freedom she has ever felt, even though a majority of the time, she is eager to leave. Her willingness to leave shows that she has had little to no consistence in her life, and she has to always keep moving and trying new situations and experiences.