The New Era of Ragtime

 As I discussed in my previous blog post, a continuing theme in Ragtime is reinvention among the characters. However, this idea isn’t limited to character development in the novel. The period Doctorow writes about, the “Ragtime Era,” is known for its ushering of the world into a new, modern age. In the years before the First World War, America’s melting pot rose to a boil, with its new ideas, inventions and movements. Ragtime shows these developments by recounting events of the time period, as well as describing its characters’ experiences relating to them. 


Some of the major early 1900 occurrences included in Ragtime are the growth of socialism, communism and anarchy ideas, as well as the pushback against them. Through Evelyn Nesbit and Tateh, Ragtime lets us listen in on Emma Goldman, where she expresses many of the revolutionary ideas of the period. This advancement connects to the growing number of immigrants coming to America, who are represented in Ragtime by Tateh and his daughter. The horrible conditions he endures in the tenements and his experience in a worker’s strike accurately indicates the bad treatment immigrants faced, as well as the abysmal working conditions of the poor, and their subsequent frustration shown through their many strikes. The officers beating Tateh during the strike also shows the usual end result of strikes during that era: violence and chaos. Other themes are also explored,  such as the rise of racial tension, which is shown through the Coalhouse Walker story. Though the direct interactions Ragtime’s characters have with these events are fiction (though who’s to say what fiction is??), the sentiments and the ideas of the time period are accurately represented.


The connection the characters have to these new age ideas also exhibit the differing reactions of the public to the changes of this time period. For example, Father views the societal and familial changes he faces negatively, and is unable to adapt to them. He disapproves of the Coalhouse Walker movement and worker strikes, and is distressed by the change in the family dynamic when he returns from the Arctic. Mother, on the other hand, embraces the changes of the era, accepting Sarah and her child into the home, gaining more internal independence and autonomy, and eventually going against social customs by marrying Tateh, a socialist Jew. These characters represent the distinction between the people of the Ragtime era: some accepted and encouraged the change, while others pushed back.

Comments

  1. MitchellFebruary 24, 2022 at 8:51 AM

    As we discussed a little in class, the Coalhouse "movement" in some ways anticipates "future" developments in racial-justice movements later in the century, while also reflecting the pervasive racism and discrimination that indeed characterized the first decade of the century. The racist harassment by the volunteer firefighters seems entirely plausible within this historical period, the kind of thing that might have happened with relative frequency but would not have been recorded in newspapers or public records (as in this incident, when the cops basically blow Coalhouse off and tell him not to worry about it--there would have been no record of his complaint). Once he starts throwing bombs, murdering firefighters, and declaring his independence from the nation's laws, we are in more "revolutionary" territory--and I know of no incident remotely like Coalhouse's occupation of Morgan's library at the time. It's as if Doctorow is doing a thought experiment, injecting a more militant or radical demand for equal justice uner the law into an earlier political and historical context--there's a strong Black Panther vibe to the Coalhouse organization, engaging the reader in very contemporary debates about the justification for politically motivated violence.

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  2. Emily SMarch 3, 2022 at 11:11 AM

    your "melting pot" comparison here is probably one of the best metaphors I would use for this book. doctorow sort of throws in a ton of random elements that someone "melt together" over the course of this book- really interesting. honestly the one part i liked about Ragtime is how all the different stories coexist and come together, and I agree with you that it really does all fit together to create the narrative of the Ragtime era nicely- since all its elements (socialism, wealth, poverty, racism, sexism) do coexist in the historical timeline.

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