Ragtime Wrapup
After finishing Ragtime,
it feels like all the pieces of a puzzle have fallen in place – what was
originally a confusing mash of stories mixed in seemingly random interactions and
ironic opinions was fleshed out in the end to a powerful story about race
relations, corporate America, and ragtime music. Following are my thoughts on
the book and its ideas.
First, about wealth and
corporate America – I thought that Doctorow’s depiction of the wealthy men of America,
specifically those of Henry Ford and his viewing of workers as cogs in a
machine aligned with mine. I appreciated his mockery of both J.P. Morgan and
his dinner guests as showing the delusions of grandeur and the cruelty that the
rich can hold. I thought his criticism of one’s ability to “make it” in America
were valid, citing J.P. Morgan being born into wealth.
Secondly, on Doctorow’s
use of history. At first, I thought that it was unecessarily trying to appear
postmodernist, or unique, but in time, I grew to really appreciate the way that
Doctorow toyed with history, throwing random historical and made up characters
into scenes of all sorts, having them interact by one in a million chances, and
using convenient excuses such as lost notebooks to leave a shadow of a doubt,
as if to say “yeah, this could have happened. Who are you to prove it didn’t?”
I think that Doctorow’s
novel paints an important picture. He explores society at the time, looking at
the change in generations between Father and Mother’s Younger Brother. By
showing the difference between the old generation, unwilling to change their opinions;
and the new generation, full of socialists, freedom fighters, and people
searching for equality, he helps show the forces which have formed America into
what it is today. By painting the picture of Coalhouse Walker Jr., he continues
to delve into race relations in America, while simultaneously telling the
narrative of a man filled with emotion and dimension. Coalhouse’s story serves
both to show the importance of wealth and race in America, while providing a
sad backstory of Sarah’s death and showing what grief can drive a person to do.
I will conclude with a
question for the comment section: do you think that Mumbo Jumbo will wrap up in
a similar way? Will all of the pieces fall together, with a sudden “aha!”
moment where everything is crystal clear and we know “Oh, that’s what jes’ grew
really is. I understand all the nuances of the characters now!”, or do you
think that we’ll be left scratching our heads by Reed?
