Ragtime: Analysis of Major Characters
"Ragtime: Analysis of Major Characters" provides an insightful exploration of the key figures in E.L. Doctorow's historical novel, "Ragtime," which intertwines the lives of diverse characters in early 20th-century America. The narrative is primarily viewed through the lens of Little Boy, the unnamed narrator, whose retrospective account reveals his evolving perspective on race, class, and identity as he interacts with a black family, a Jewish immigrant family, and his own WASP family.
Father represents the conventional American patriot whose absence during an Arctic expedition catalyzes significant changes within his family, particularly in Mother. Initially a submissive figure, Mother evolves into a competent leader and caregiver, influenced by evolving social ideas, while taking on the responsibility of an abandoned black infant and her mother. Mother’s Younger Brother serves as a bridge between the families, becoming a political radical after his involvement with the actress Evelyn Nesbit and embracing unionization.
Tateh, a Jewish immigrant, experiences hardship but ultimately achieves success as a filmmaker, illustrating the immigrant struggle for prosperity. Coalhouse Walker, Jr., a black pianist, embodies the fight for dignity and justice in the face of racial violence, illustrating the tragic consequences of systemic injustice. Together, these characters reflect the complexities of early American society, showcasing a tapestry of intersecting lives that challenge the notions of identity and belonging.
Ragtime: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: E. L. Doctorow
First published: 1975
Genre: Novel
Locale: New York, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Egypt, Mexico, Alaska, and Germany
Plot: Historical
Time: The early twentieth century, 1906 to c. 1915
Little Boy, the narrator and supposed author of this story. Neither as the narrator nor as a character in the story is his age ever made known, just as it remains unclear until near the end why he is telling the story. As a character, he generally remains on the periphery of the various events that take place in the narrative; nevertheless, what he chooses to tell about reveals his changing perceptions and individual growth. His narrative begins as a retrospective account of his boyhood in New York when, according to his earliest memories, America seemed simple, clean, good, and populated only by Caucasians. Then, along with his own white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) family (composed of himself, Mother, Father, Mother's Younger Brother, and Grandfather), he chronicles the lives of two other families: a black family (Sarah, Coalhouse Walker, Jr., and their illegitimate infant) and an immigrant family (Tateh, Mameh, and The Little Girl). Although unfamiliar with one another at the beginning of Little Boy's narrative, members of these three families are joined into one uniquely American family by the story's end. The families' fates, then, all more or less shape Little Boy's life and character, as well as his perception of himself and America.
Father, a manufacturer of fireworks and flags, an amateur explorer and Little Boy's father. He is—by attitude, sentiment, and occupation—the model American patriot, and he expects his family to be the model American (WASP) family. That, at least, is the stressed norm in 1906, when he leaves with Robert Peary on the famous explorer's successful third expedition to discover the North Pole. While Father is away, however, his wife and family undergo significant changes that his absence makes possible.
Mother, who initially is a prudish creature with whom Father has had only rigidly formal sexual relations. She finds a black infant abandoned but still alive in her flower garden, and she takes upon herself the burden of caring for both the child and—after she is located—its young mother, Sarah. Not only does she take on this burden, but she also assumes all the managerial responsibilities of Father's business while he is away on his expedition with Peary, and she succeeds in making the company more profitable than Father had been able to. Mother changes in yet another way while Father is away: She begins reading and having her attitudes shaped by feminist and socialist literature.
Mother's Younger Brother, an employee in Father's business and a resident in Mother and Father's home. Desperately in love with Evelyn Nesbit (the lover of Stanford White until her husband assassinates him), Mother's Younger Brother succeeds in briefly wooing the married woman, and in the process he becomes a political radical and revolutionary unionizer like his mentor, Emma Goldman. It is through Mother's Younger Brother that Father's family initially is connected to the immigrant family of Tateh, Mameh, and The Little Girl. Furthermore, because both Mother and her brother more or less become followers of Goldman, Father's WASP family is infiltrated by radical thought by the time he returns from his expedition, and his employees are unionizing largely as a result of the influence of Mother's Younger Brother.
Tateh, Baron Ashkenazy, an immigrant who travels to America to realize his dream of comfort, prosperity, and freedom from repression with Mameh and The Little Girl. Finding only abject poverty in New York, Tateh makes and sells paper silhouettes on the streets, separates from his wife because she sells sexual favors to pay the rent, gradually becomes a pioneer filmmaker, and, with newfound prosperity, changes his name to Baron Ashkenazy. As such, he marries Mother after Father drowns at sea.
Coalhouse Walker, Jr., a successful ragtime pianist and the father of the illegitimate infant whom Mother finds half-buried in her garden. Although Father is troubled by the fact that Coalhouse does not behave around whites as if he were mindful of being a black man and therefore, presumably, inferior, the pianist's self-respect and sense of honor compel him to enter Father's home in the first place. When he learns that Sarah, his former lover, is living in the home and that she has given birth to his child, he is determined to visit her as often as necessary to persuade her to marry him. After they become engaged, however, Coalhouse is victimized by violent racists, Sarah is killed trying to help him, he is killed seeking vengeance for the injustices done to him and her, and Mother is left with their baby, which—against Father's wishes—she chooses to rear.