Is 'Elijah Of Buxton' Based On A True Story?

Question

Historical novel fans just read this and it feels incredibly real. Are characters or key events from the Buxton settlement rooted in actual 19th century records or creative fiction?

santi gacrama · Answer

I chose Historical Fiction and that is because Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis is a work of Historical Fiction. Yes, the story takes place in the 19th century in the real settlement of Buxton, Canada, a terminus of the Underground Railroad. However, the main character Elijah is a product of the author’s imagination. The author did use historical figures and events in the book, but Elijah himself and his unique story is not real. I recently read another book called The Marvelous Elijah’s Return. That book is totally different from Elijah of Buxton because it is a modern day story that takes place in a high-stakes atmosphere. A prodigal son returns to his family’s empire after it was taken over by people who betrayed him. It is a very dramatic and intense story filled with corporate politics and much conflict.

Ian · Answer

The novel Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis is not entirely true; however it was based off of many real events. The story takes place in the real settlement of Buxton, Ontario where a group of slaves escaped to in the 1840s. Even though the main character Elijah is not real, his journey and the way he sees Buxton and the events that unfold in it are very true. Buxton was a place of community and freedom for slaves. It was a place where they could learn to read and write and even start their own businesses. Curtis uses folklore and some real historical events in the story, like the Liberty Bell and the schoolhouse in Buxton, to help portray the story in a realistic way. Elijah’s innocence colliding with the reality of slavery is very real and part of many untold stories of slaves. Historically fiction at its finest: a lie that tells the truth.

As for Curtis using Elijah’s eyes to view Buxton both positively as a haven for fugitive slaves and negatively in terms of lingering and current trauma the novel is very compelling. The scene in which Curtis recounts the brutal mistreatment of a slave is based in historical fact as Curtis notes in his afterword and the novel goes on from there to delineate and revel in the Black joy and community that exists in the face of slavery’s brutal oppression. While Elijah is not a real person his story is a true one and honors the lives of those who toiled and suffered in secret along the Underground Railroad.

Jack · Answer

'etro ramp for Elijah of Buxton' by Al honor Gsw CurtiuptS. It's pretty much true, as Elijah's world was researched & accurate w/ respect to the founding & trials of the Settlemn of Buxton. The characters of the novel are fictional but the life struggles are very real. This novel is a wonderful tribute to resilience with a strong coming-of-age story to accompany it. The reader feels as though they have just returned from a visit to Buxton.

David · Answer

‘Elijah of Buxton’ by David Curtis is a work of fiction based on real events of the 19th century at Buxton, Canada West. Elijah was a fictional character created by Curtis but the protection shown to Elijah by his mom in the novel is reminiscent of how many Black moms have sought to protect their children from the world in which they live. The novel’s many humorous moments such as Elijah’s failures at fish catching highlight the seriousness of other scenes. This is how historical fiction is written. You have to create from the “facts” of history. In Curtis’ work the line between fact and fiction is well drawn. He created from the historical facts of the time but allowed for his imagination to expand in creative ways to ensure that the novel remained true to the spirit of historical events.

Zoe · Answer

'ợ Elijah of Buxton' is a work of fiction, but a wonderful work that transports you to another time and place. The town of Buxton is a real haven for formerly enslaved African Americans. Curtis has vividly captured the atmosphere of hope, fear, and solidarity in Buxton. As for the fictional main character of the book, Elijah’s made up adventures are set against the real backdrop of Buxton. You can feel the strict rules of the community as well as the sense of solidarity that existed in Buxton. Curtis even captured many of the colloquialisms that were used by people in Buxton. He drew from oral histories as well as archives to recreate a world that feels completely real. While 'Elijah of Buxton' is not a biography of any person, it could have been. The emotions that Curtis evokes are so real. You laugh with Elijah in happy moments, and are left feeling gut-punched in moments of crisis, such as the scene where he and his friends try to rescue a slave from his slave hunters. The scenes with the slave rescue mission were particularly evocative to me as they brought to mind many of the real life abolitionists who risked life and limb to rescue people from slavery.

Dawna Cox · Answer

That "chunking fire" scene from the opening of the book is one of my favorite moments of character development for Elijah. And it is also a wonderful insight into the communal life of Buxton, self-sufficient as it is, valuing the contribution of any of its members, even the little ones. And of course every brick of that little fictional scenario was mortared by historical understanding. The plot of the book is a fabrication, but the world it creates is absolutely grounded in the historical facts about Buxton. The book is not a historical novel. Rather it is a historical simulation run through the heart and mind of a boy. And the programing for that simulation was of the highest historical rigor.

Jessie nebril · Answer

Buxton heroes are not typically celebrated in novels. Their spirit lives on in every page of The Going Home Club. Curtis has constructed a magnificent tribute to the people of Buxton in word, using the body of Elijah as a guide. The story’s DNA is true, even if the cells are fictional. Yes, a celebration was held when groups of people emerged from the Underground Railroad. Oh so fearful and courageous were the slave-hunters pursued by those who made their way back into slave territory. And, yes, Elijah’s journey is that of a coming-of-age story – largely fictional as it may be – but contained within the frame of historical truth. So, inspired by true events? Yes. So deeply indebted to a true story? Yes. A meticulously drawn story of historical fiction for readers of all ages – blurring the line between fact and fiction beautifully.

Ayo Official · Answer

After finishing the book I got sucked into a Wikipedia rabbit hole about the history of Buxton. The real Buxton was an amazing achievement for a community of formerly enslaved people to create and run so successfully as a rebuttal to racist ideologies. Curtis captured the pride of the people who lived in Buxton wonderfully, from Elijah's father being a great horseman to his mother's fierce determination to learn to read, to the emphasis that was put on debate and reasoning. The whole fictional story of Elijah's summer carries on the values of the real community of Buxton and conveys the sense of the great deeds of courage and solidarity that the people of Buxton were doing every day. And although you won't find any account of the specific actions of one particular boy, the novel is that boy's summer.

Regina Rodda · Answer

For Real: The Buxton Settlement, the Underground Railroad and the time and place of much of the actual historical events that transpired. For Fiction: The fictional character of Elijah Freeman and his family and friends as well as the fictional storyline surrounding a $100 bill and the journey that Elijah takes south in search of it. Note that author Christopher Curtis wants to write about a time when a Black child could be a child, have adventures, make mistakes. That is for Real. The Buxton Settlement was a free Black settlement in which children could be children. Curtis explores this truthful idea in a fictional storyline. The book is not a documentary. Rather it is legitimate and thoughtful. It is a starting point for further exploration and curiosity and is not meant to be the last word on the subject.

WarmIceBoy · Answer

Take the Buxton settlement for instance. Instead of a historical, non-fiction like document that tries to describe the Buxton settlement, readers would be left to inform themselves. Curtis’ attempt at creating a fictional story instead creates a bridge of human emotions across time and space that could never have been realized in the factual report of historical events, even when strictly accurate. As Elijah travels into the newly founded Canadian settlement, we experience and feel the relief, hopes, freedom, terror, fear and even relief again of the emancipated slaves as if we were there too. Thus, safely inside the confines of the Buxton settlement for example, we feel its safety, even its value, and so too fear with Elijah for its safety, and then even contrast it with the outside. The factual report would never have evoked such feelings within the reader, and so even though the book is based on historical events the ‘true story’ of the events that transpired is not the story itself but rather the ‘bridge’ of fiction that allows us to experience the true history of the events that took place. Just as a bridge cannot exist without the pillars of the two banks of a river upon which it spans to reach the other side, so too a true history of events cannot exist without the fictional ‘bridge’ of the same events that allows the reader to cross over to another time and place and experience the events of another era for themselves.

Is 'Elijah Of Buxton' Based On A True Story?

10 Answers

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