![]() The drive through Tennessee gives Cora an opportunity to reflect on American ethics at the national level, ethics that are outside of her control or the control of any person she has encountered. ![]() In this sense, he is not so unlike the Wellses, or even Cora herself. Ridgeway makes his choices not out of an intentional desire to be good or evil but based on his own whim or convenience. And he shows surprising kindness to Homer, not only setting him free but also befriending him in a near fatherly way. He is no friend of Terrance Randall, hating the man for some of the same reasons Cora hates him. Ridgeway is not always on the side of the slavers and against the slaves. His sidekick Homer double-checks the books and confirms Ridgeway’s calculation with an equally cold, “He’s right.” Neither of them factors Jasper’s humanity in to the equation.Īlthough it would be simpler to cast Ridgeway as a sociopath with no kindness, his character is more complex. Based on the amount of money he would have received for delivering Jasper, he argues, divided by the amount of time he would need to travel with the man, the constant irritation isn’t worth a slight loss in revenue. When he shoots Jasper only because he is irritated by the man’s singing, he responds to his cronies’ horror by calculating the financial loss. When he refers to both them and other fugitive slaves, he uses the impersonal pronoun “it” instead of “he” or “she” as if runaways are merely missing objects needing to be returned. He takes great pleasure in recounting the gruesome deaths of Lovey and Caesar to Cora. Ridgeway’s dehumanization of slaves is evident in a number of ways in this chapter. Before escaping with the men, Cora kicks Ridgeway in the face three times. In the ensuing fight, Boseman is killed, and Cora’s rescuers chain Ridgeway and Homer to the wagon. While Cora is unchained, the young black man who noticed her earlier and two others appear armed with guns and knives. Ridgeway catches Boseman in the act and begins fighting with him. ![]() That night, Boseman undoes Cora’s chains in order to rape her. Ridgeway stops in one town to buy a new dress for Cora, and Cora sees a young black man nod at her. Both of them, he says, are merely following their survival instincts. And yet he also insists that he and Cora are much alike: Cora killed a white boy and feels no guilt Ridgeway feels no guilt for the slaves he kills. Ridgeway delights in telling these stories to Cora, enjoying her distress. Caesar was jailed in South Carolina and then torn to pieces by an angry mob after rumors spread that he was responsible for the death of a white boy. Lovey was returned to the Randall plantation, where she was hanged and impaled. During their travels, Ridgeway tells Cora the fate of both Lovey and Caesar. Most of the towns they drive through in Tennessee have been devastated by natural disasters: a massive fire and a cholera outbreak. Homer checks their financial books and confirms that Ridgeway’s calculations are correct. Ridgeway explains that the money he planned to make for delivering Jasper back to his plantation isn’t worth the irritation of Jasper’s singing. Eventually Ridgeway stops the wagon and shoots Jasper in the face, splattering Cora with his blood. Jasper sings incessantly despite Ridgeway’s threats and orders to stop. Cora tries twice to run away but is caught both times and earns even more chains.Īlong the way, Ridgeway catches another runaway named Jasper, who travels with them for four days. This journey takes them all into Tennessee. Ridgeway hopes to bring both slaves back to Georgia together. The group does not return Cora directly to Georgia Ridgeway has been commissioned by another Georgia slaveholder to capture an escaped slave rumored to be living free in Missouri. Homer refused to leave Ridgeway despite being freed, and he works alongside the slave catcher, chaining himself to their wagon each night before he falls asleep. Homer is a small black boy about 10 years old, who Ridgeway bought as a slave and freed fourteen hours later. Boseman is the prototypical slave catcher, with a fondness for violence. Having been captured by Ridgeway, Cora now travels in a wagon with Ridgeway and two of his cronies, Boseman and Homer.
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