Women’s Advancement

¹

Most of the characters in Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow, are dynamic, from the famous Houdini to the unidentified family.  Through evolving characterization with a historical backdrop, Doctorow establishes a lens that emphasizes the effect that history has on individuals.  This is seen particularly with Mother.  The late 1800’s and early 1900’s was a time of great change for women.  They began to see an increase in economic opportunity, greater freedom from their husband, and potentially most important, a drastic switch in the idea of their sexuality.  From the early activism of Margaret Sanger, a progressive who encouraged the use of birth control and revised sexual education,² leading into the eventual publication of the Kinsey Report, in 1948, which revolutionized the popular conception of sexuality,³ Americans’ concept of sexuality, especially with regard to women, was changing drastically in the time period in which Ragtime is set. 

This sexual liberation of women is exemplified in the book through Mother’s actions and characterization.  The dynamic characterization of Mother evolves from a modest Victorian women in the beginning, who wouldn’t even sleep in the same bed as her husband and who would weep when Father tried to be intimate with her, to a woman who was comfortable with herself and her marital relationship, and even enjoyed sex.  This change is portrayed through the symbol of her hair.  While at first she always keeps her hair braided or bound, she eventually begins to let her hair loose, which represents not only her increased comfort, but also symbolizes her independence and new freedom.  In chapter 14 this change is described as being, “in some way not as vigorously modest as she’d been.  She took his gaze.  She came to bed with her hair unbraided” (111).  This symbol is seen later as well, as Mother and Tateh are looking for the children in the rainstorm.  The state of her unbound wet hair is mentioned frequently in this scene, but Mother herself pays little attention to it, and seems rather accepting and comfortable with this new freedom.  The new freedoms which Mother feels, both sexually, to be able to express her desire and enjoyment, economically, to be able to run the business while father is in the arctic, and socially, to become comfortable in her bathing costume and to embrace her black child are expressed through her dynamic characterization and through the symbol of her hair. 

¹ "Bathing Suit Parade at Miami Beach." Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

ItemID=WE52&iPin=AHI0962&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 15, 2011).

² Langston, Donna. "Sanger, Margaret." A to Z of American Women Leaders and Activists, A to Z of Women. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2002. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

ItemID=WE52&iPin=WLA117&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 15, 2011).

³ Gardner, Kirstin. "Kinsey, Alfred C." In Winkler, Allan M., Charlene Mires, and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Postwar United States, 1946 to 1968, Revised Edition (Volume IX). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File,Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHIX129&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 17, 2011).

The Life Line

Winslow Homer’s quip can be interpreted in more than one way.  His artwork consumed his life; he loved painting, especially outdoors.  He lived by painting.  Now, however, he lives through his paintings.  He is remembered for his watercolors, ones like The Life Line.  His quote and painting also captures the spirit of the moment when Tateh reflects on Mother’s appearance and demeanor when they search for the children on the stormy beach.  Tateh thought, “She walked with her arms around the children.  He recognized her wet form the ample woman in the Winslow Homer painting who is being rescued from the sea by towline.  Who would not risk his life for such a woman?” (265-266).  Tateh thinks highly of mother at this point in the story, perhaps foreshadowing their eventual marriage.  He shows his love for Mother by asking, “Who would not risk his life for such a woman?”  The question is duplicitous in nature, referring to both the woman in Homer’s painting and Moth

er.  The Life Line is currently housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which wrote, “Cropped down to its essentials, Homer’s composition thrusts us into the midst of the action with massive waves rolling past, drenching the semiconscious woman and her anonymous savior.”  The focus of the painting is the action, not the surroundings (the boats, other crew members, etc.).  Doctorow’s cropped description of Tateh’s actions parallel’s Homer’s cropped artwork.  Doctorow wrote, “Suddenly Tateh ran ahead of them all and did a somersault.  He did a cartwheel.  He stood on his hands in the sand and walked upside down.  The children laughed” (266).  The actions compose the description of the scene.  The only description of the physical landscape is the word “sand,” similar to how the only description of the physical landscape in The Life Line are the waves painted in the background.  Doctorow’s writing style mirrors Homer’s painting style, allowing both to live through the other’s work. 

Sources:

Homer, Winslow. The Life Line. 1884. Philadelphia Museum of Art. artrenewal.org. Web. 9 May 2011.

"The Life Line." Philadelphia Museum of Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2011.

"Winslow Homer Quotes." Artfortune.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2011.

Pyramids of Power

In Doctorow’s novel, the fictional representation of J.P. Morgan harbors an obsession with Egyptology. The novel draws many parallelisms between the giant business tycoons of the age and the pharaohs of ancient times. For example, J.P. Morgan notes a striking similarity between both Henry Ford and the Pharaoh Seti I. Both were innovative and commanding men who ruled their own empire of sorts. On the other hand, Morgan, who sought to distance himself from contemporaries such as Carnegie, could be compared to the Pharaoh Cheops, who sought to elevate himself further from the power-wielding priests. Furthermore, Cheops is mistakenly thought to have used slaves as manpower to construct his pyramid, finished in 2600 BC, which stands as one of the Great Pyramids of Giza. In fact, Cheops’ pyramid was built during a time when the Nile did not flood, when crops could not be grown and when many were unemployed. Cheops created many jobs and made provisions for his workers although the construction of the pyramid itself was brutally grueling. To build his pyramid, limestone blocks for the pyramids were quarried by inserting wooden wedges into cracks and moistening the wedges so that they expanded to sever the block from its bed. These blocks were then transported up the Nile by boat and then to the site by a sled. At this time, the Egyptians had no knowledge of the wheel so how they lifted the blocks to such astonishing heights, even with ramps, remains a mystery. Furthermore, in the novel, the pyramid is a symbol for power. Therefore, Morgan wishes to harness said power by building a pyramid and performing pharaonic death rites in order to signify that his life was something more than that of the average mortal. However he is unable to build a tomb before the time of his death due to the fact that he was “so urgently needed again on earth that he was exempt from the usual entombment rituals”(312). This shows that no matter how powerful Morgan had been in life, he was still unable to conquer death and that the mortal part of him still owes a service to those around him since he still had a business to run and cannot allow him to ascend towards a higher status. In addition, Morgan’s inability to build his own pyramid despite his travels and observations is an allusion to the fact that we do not actually know how exactly the pyramids were built. But they, like Morgan’s money, represented an empire and the blood, sweat and hard work of many men.

By Kelvin Chang

Bibliography

· McAuley, Eoin. "The Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt." h2g2. BBC, 9 Oct. 2001. Web. 16 May 2011.

.

· Millmore, Mark. "The Pyramids of Giza." Discovering Ancient Egypt. Eyelid Productions, 2011.

Web. 16 May 2011.

· Orcutt, Larry. "How Were the Pyramids Built?" Catchpenny Mysteries of Ancient Egypt. Larry

Orcutt, 2000. Web. 16 May 2011. .

· Proctor, Richard A. "The Pyramid of Cheops." The North American Review 1883:

257-269. Print.

· Stanfield, James L. Pyramids of Giza, Giza, Egypt, 1990. 1990. National Geographic. National

Geographic Society, 2002. Web. 16 May 2011.

Images/POD/p/pyramids-of-giza-468607-lw.jpg>.

Lusitania - Kelvin

In this midst of an ongoing war, the First World War, a battle for control of the waters was fought between Great Britain and Germany. The RMS Lusitania was a British passenger ship bound for Liverpool from New York and was the pride of the sea, having been dubbed "fastest and largest steamer now in the Atlantic service"¹. At this time, the United States was still neutral in terms of its participation in the war. The Germans, who were targeting British ships, had sent out a warning for American passengers not to travel onboard the Lusitania. However, the Lusitania’s reputation for its speed coupled with the fact that it was a passenger liner and not a military vessel reassured Americans that the Germans would not be able to harm the liner even if they broke the rules of engagement and attacked it. So the Lusitania, captained by William Turner, set out on May 1^st, 1915, to enjoy six days of calm voyaging. But on May 7^th, just south of Ireland, Captain Turner slowed down to navigate through a fog and a German U-boat attacked the ship, sinking it in a mere eighteen minutes and killing 1198 people. This breach of the codes honoring US neutrality pushed America to join the Allied sides against Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire two months later with cries of “Remember the Lusitania!”. But large ships like the Lusitania usually took hours to sink so why did she sink so rapidly? It was later discovered that the Lusitania was secretly transporting munitions and artillery from America to Britain. These weapons and explosives and were also responsible for the expedition of the Lusitania’s sinking were the underlying cause of the many deaths that resulted from the disaster. Doctorow’s Ragtime confirms this, stating that the ship was indeed “secretly carrying a manifest of volatile war matériel in her holds”(318). At the same time, Doctorow cleverly uses this event to tie into a twist in the plot: Younger Brother’s repayment of his debt to Father ironically causes his death since Father is responsible in transporting the very weapons that endangered the ship, the weapons that Younger Brother designed. Father’s death is metaphorically described as an “exploration”(318) to imply that his whole life, he was seeking an expedition that would change him, one that would truly be meaningful. Tragically, his final exploration brought him death, a kind appeasement he sought but would never live to enjoy.

By Kelvin Chang

Bibliography

· Ballard, Robert D., Rick Archbold, and PBS. "Lusitania." Lost Liners. PBS, 2011. Web. 11 May 2011.

.

· Boyer, Paul S., et al. "War In Europe, 1914-1917." The Enduring Vision, Concise

Sixth Edition. Ed. P. J. Boardman and Megan Curry. 6th ed. Boston: Suzanne

Jeans, 2010. 513. Print.

· Kan, Vincent. "RMS Lusitania: The Fateful Voyage." First World War.com. Michael Duffy, 22 Aug.

2009. Web. 11 May 2011.

· Trueman, Chris. "The Lusitania." History Learning Site. Chris Trueman, 2011. Web. 11 May 2011.

.

· Untergang der "Lusitania." 7 May 1915. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 4 Dec. 2008. Web. 12 May 2011.

17,_Untergang_der_%22Lusitania%22.jpg>.

¹ Trueman, Chris. "The Lusitania." History Learning Site. Chris Trueman, 2011. Web. 11 May 2011.

.

The Birth of Media Sex Symbols

Celebrities today seem to live through the media. Something about their lifestyles speaks glamour, scandals, and adventure, and incites a certain desire in the minds of the everyday person. Lustrous, argent teeth shining through the front covers of magazines; sleepy, half-closed eyelids gazing enticingly through billboards; svelte, seductive curves beckoning from posters. All are marketing techniques, advertisements for the ideal and unattainable American Dream. Suddenly, it becomes extremely difficult to fathom the idea that these celebrities have ever had normal and personal lives.

In Doctorow’s Ragtime, we see the surfacing of a new age at the dawn of a new century. Evelyn Nesbit’s testimony for the Henry K. Thaw trial happened in 1907. This was a time of technological, political and even artistic innovation; therefore, the media also had to evolve to not only document, but also capture the spirit of change. In Chapter 11, Evelyn is a woman entangled in a scandal in which there was no escape, yet the media portrays her as “the first sex goddess in American History”(84), marketing a new product: fame. This is also the time when celebrities and famous people were detached from their personal lives and in some cases, their humanity. In Chapter 8, in describing Evelyn’s moment of pleasure, Doctorow writes “…the younger woman [Evelyn] began to ripple on the bed like a wave on the sea”(63). This simile comparing Evelyn’s body to a wave takes away her human image and replaces it with a more powerful, ethereal image of the sea. In addition, to emphasize the extent of her fame, she is compared to Theda Bara and Marilyn Monroe, who were the iconic female sex symbols of their respective eras. Furthermore, Evelyn’s claim to fame after the discovery of her beauty in Pittsburgh was her early career as an artist’s model in which Charles Dana Gibson, the famed artist, immortalized her in his pen and ink sketch titled “The Eternal Question” (pictured right), which hangs from Mother’s Younger Brother’s wall, much like the posters of modern celebrities that hang from young men’s walls today. Charles Dana Gibson has also used Evelyn as inspiration for his “Gibson Girl”, the ideal upper class woman that became famous in many of his other works. However, in Doctorow’s novel, we see that she is struggling with her fame, partaking in charity out of guilt, and, having come from a poor lower class background, battling with her own identity crisis. However, she is changing careers from a model to a ragtime dancer; so as the novel unravels, will she continue on her flight to superstardom or will she become the 20^th century’s first fallen starlet?

By Kelvin Chang

Bibliography

· Cardyn, Lisa. "NESBIT, Evelyn Florence." American National Biography. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C.

Carnes. Vol. 16. New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1999. 293-294. Print. 24 vols

· Doctorow, E. L. Ragtime. 2007 Random House Trade Paperback Edition ed. New York: Random House Inc.,

1975. Print.

· Elzea, Rowland P. "NESBIT, Evelyn Florence." American National Biography. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark

C. Carnes. Vol. 8. New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1999. 930-932. Print. 24 vols.

· Gibson, Charles Dana. The Eternal Question. 1905. Private collection. Evelyn Nesbit. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.

.

Father as a "Hawk"

The end of E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime shows the beginning of World War One, and perhaps compares it to the contemporary war in Vietnam that raged in Southeast Asia while the book was being written. Doctorow portrays the beginning of World War One as a popular war throughout the United States, as the population felt that Wilson wasn’t being aggressive enough in his involvement in the war in Europe. Doctorow uses Father, his manifestation of the middle class average American, to show this attitude towards the war. “With the onset of the Great War in Europe he was one of those who feared Woodrow Wilson’s lack of fighting spirit and was openly for preparedness before it became the official view of the Administration.” (318) Doctorow uses Father as an allusion to the pro-war sentiment that brought America into World War One, a decision that most of the country would later regret. In the early 20s, most Americans realized that World War one was fought for little reason other than protecting U.S. economic investments in the U.K. This portrayal of Father shows Doctorow’s recognition of the error of war, something that can be applied to the time in which the story itself was written. Doctorow uses Father to represent the error of war not only in World War One, but in the contemporary Vietnam War. At the outset of the Vietnam War in the 1960s, the American population was almost fully behind the war, with the majority of Americans considering themselves pro-war “hawks.” This desire for battle in the American people of the early 1960s is reciprocated in the pro-war feelings portrayed by Doctorow through Father in Ragtime. However, as the American people turned on World War One after it ended, the American people tired of the war in Vietnam and eventually the U.S. withdrew in shame. Doctorow’s Ragtime, a story of America in the early 20th century, also tells the story of a war contemporary to the time in which it was written.

Bibliography:

"Vietnam." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 16 May. 2011. .

"World War I." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 16 May. 2011. .

Paul, Boyer. "The Liberal Era, 1960-1968." The Enduring Vision: A History of the
American People. 6th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010.
662-683. Print.

Tensions of the Times

Throughout Ragtime, author E. L. Doctorow weaves gender tensions into the relationship between Mother and Father. During a time when women were becoming more and more recognized in different aspects of American culture, conservative men were more resistant toward embracing these changes. When Father came back from his voyage, he returned to a house that had begun to change with the fashions of the times, and this change was driven by his wife, whom he seemed to have more control over when he left. And when Mother welcomed Sarah and her son into their home, Father was even more resistant to embrace the idea of housing a black woman and her illegitimate child. With Sarah’s presence came Coalhouse’s drama, and Father was far from happy about that.

We are suffering a tragedy that should not have been ours, he said

to his wife. What in God’s name possessed you on that day? The

county has facilities for indigents. You took her in without sufficient

thought. You victimized us all with your foolish female sentimentality. (210)

With this statement of direct discourse, Father blames Mother for allowing Sarah into their home, which caused the family to become involved in the drama with Coalhouse Walker Jr., whom he blames for Sarah’s death. With Sarah’s death, Father also comes to resent the fact that Mother takes on the responsibility of raising her child. In expressing these strong opinions, Father also blames Mother’s womanhood and her “foolish female sentimentality” for her actions. While this may seem like a radical opinion, Father reflects his times with his seemingly sexist statements.

Throughout the novel Doctorow weaves the different ideologies of the times and combines fiction with history using his unique voice to “break down the wall between the real and the written, between formal fiction and the actual palpable sense of life as it is lived.” He “invents memory”, by twisting the stories of the fictional Coalhouse Walker and the very real J.P. Morgan to create a three dimensional perspective of America in the early 1900s. While Mother and Father may not have existed, their tensions reflect the changing ideologies of times. Doctorow’s depiction of the family gives the reader the sensation of living in the presence of people like J.P. Morgan whose influence is still very present in our country, and whom many would describe as “the most influential financier in this country's history”, and experiencing America during a time of change and struggle.

Elizabeth Huebsch

Sources:

Steinberg, Sally Levitt. "DOCTOROW: INVENTING MEMORY - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/20/nyregion/doctorow-inventing-memory.html?

pagewanted=1>.

Boyer, Paul S. The Enduring Vision : A History of the American People: . 3rd ed. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Co., 1996.

"The Morgan Library & Museum - History of the Morgan." The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Founded by Pierpont Morgan. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://

www.themorgan.org/about/history.asp>.

Lusitania

In Ragtime, the characters are constantly embarking on their own personal journeys. It is only fitting that Father, the character that had the greatest adventure in the book, would finish his life on yet another journey. Though Father is a fictional character, Doctorow inserts him right into a major historical event, the sinking of the commercial ship, the Lusitania, by a German submarine. Doctorow writes, “Twelve hundred men, women and children, many of whom were American, lost their lives, among them, Father, who was going to London with the first shipments for the War Office and the Admiralty of the grenades, depth charges and puttied nitro that undoubtedly contributed to the monstrous detonations in the hip that preceded its abrupt sinking”(318) Father was never completely happy after he returned home from his arctic journey, and Doctorow’s description of his death does not have the tone of sadness that a character’s death would normally take. The reader feels more for the other casualties described, as the description of Father’s involvement goes straight into the business venture that he was on. It is interesting that Doctorow chose to place Father, along with his armaments, aboard the Lusitania, because, historically, it has been debated whether or not the ship secretly carried ammunition from the US to aid the Allied Powers, as the Germans claimed in justification of their attack. Though there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that the ship did indeed carry armaments, Doctorow uses an interesting literary tactic by taking a historical event with some blurred details and used it to complete one of his character’s stories.

Edelen, Paul. "sinking of RMS Lusitania." In Faue, Elizabeth, and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: The Emergence of Modern America, 1900 to 1928, Revised Edition (Volume VII). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010.American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHVII145&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 16, 2011).

"Lusitania Docks in New York City." Francis Benjamin Johnston. September 13, 1907. Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division. Francis Benjamin Johnston collection. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=AHI1448&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 16, 2011).

Roberts, Priscilla. "sinking of RMS Lusitania." In Tucker, Spencer C., gen. ed.Encyclopedia of American Military History. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003.American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EMHII0219&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 16, 2011).

Bullet Replacing the Ballot

In Ragtime, Doctorow mentions the increase of militia and Secret Service to guard US presidents and vice-presidents. Doctorow describes the scene outside of Vice President Jim Sherman’s Republican Party dinner as the Vice President arrived by saying, “Not only the local police in their white evening gloves but a platoon of militia were on hand, keeping the entrance cleared and pushing the crowd back from the street in anticipation of the arrival of the Vice-President’s car” (190). Doctorow attributes this rise in militia and Secret Service to the assassination of President McKinley in 1901, the third presidential assassination in 36 years. Doctorow associates McKinley’s assassination with the election of 1912 and talks about the assassination attempt of Roosevelt and the shooting of New York City’s mayor, William J. Gaynor saying, “Gun were going off everywhere” (191).

Doctorow may be using these historical details to show how the events in the early 20^th century relate to the events of the 1960s and 1970s. Doctorow first published Ragtime in 1974 after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. While Doctorow is not talking directly about the assassinations of the 60’s and 70’s, his reference to the historical details of the assassination of the early 20^th century show the correlation between the two times. People feared that the bullet was replacing the ballot after the deaths of MLK and RFK, but Doctorow is showing that the bullet has always been present in American History. Doctorow’s allusions to the historical details of the assassinations in the early 20^th century show his awareness of the events occurring during the time the book was published and the relative comparisons between the 60s and the early 1900s.

Assassination of William McKinley." Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

ItemID=WE52&iPin=7069&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 16, 2011).

Sifakis, Carl. "William McKinley, assassination of." The Encyclopedia of American Crime, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2001. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAC0391&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 16, 2011).

Sifakis, Carl. "Martin Luther King Jr., assassination of." The Encyclopedia of American Crime, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2001. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAC1171&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 16, 2011).

A Glass Bulwark

In chapters 19- 21 J.P. Morgan, one of the most influential businessmen in American history, who came into his fortune primarily through bond and stock trading of railroads, is introduced.² He is first seen arriving to work in a limousine, with multiple assistants running around anxiously, trying to make everything around him perfect.  He then strides into his office, “a modest glass-paneled room on the main floor of the bank where he was visible to everyone and everyone to him” (138).  In this instance, and as the imagery of glass and windows continues to be developed throughout the book, the large glass windows come to represent a division between classes.  While J.P. Morgan can see all of the people walking on the streets and they can see him in his office, his world is completely impregnable to everyone except for the members of his elite upper class social circle.  The concept of his glass-paneled window keeps him removed from the people moving about on the streets, as he amasses millions of dollars and makes business deals with incredible bearing on global economics.  While the masses can see in to his office and observe him, they cannot become involved or join him. 

This concept of a glass window as a barrier, across which people can see but not cross, is also seen with Tateh and the little girl with store windows.  As they walk the streets of Philadelphia in Chapter 18, they look in department store windows and they continue along, and as they progress, even though they can physically enter the department stores, they do not belong there.  This is exemplified through the tone of free indirect discourse of the little girl, as it describes her fascination with the store and the cashier system.  This division is further exemplified when Tateh says, “One of these hats is worth more than a week’s wages” (131).  In contrasting the hats to the work that laborers perform, the lifestyle differences are illustrated.  The store windows, like those of JP Morgan’s office, represent this barrier between classes, as lower class people will look in upon the store in awe, but can never afford to waste money on such baroque items, while upper class people come and go at their leisure, looking through the window and seeing the latest trends that they will soon acquire. 

While the glass serves as a symbolic barrier between the classes, it is also indicative of the instability of this division.  Glass, which is a “transparent or translucent material that has no crystalline structure and that usually breaks or shatters easily,”³ is not actually as impregnable as it first seems.  Because of this structural lack of order on a molecular chemistry level, it is quite fragile.  This, combined with the presence of many imperfections on glass surface, which allow for concentrated points of pressure that lead to fracture, makes glass very weak⁴.  This instability is seen later on in the text, as Tateh ascends into the upper class, through his success in the film business, and as manifested in the central conflict of the book, when Coalhouse Walker and his gang seize and temporarily control JP Morgan’s library, which he had filled with all of his prized possessions.  The symbolic glass windows, although acting as a barrier between classes, are ultimately a permeable division that lacks the strength to completely bar out the masses from the elite upper class. 

¹ Underhill, Irving D. J. P. Morgan & Co. Bldg., Wall & Broad Sts. 1960. Library      

of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C., 20540 USA.      

Library of Congress. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/      

item/99471908/>.

² Encyclopedia of American History: The Development of the Industrial United States, 1870 to 1899, Revised Edition (Volume VI)

³ "glass." American Heritage Student Science Dictionary (2009): 151. Science Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 11 May 2011.

⁴ J. F. McMahon, J. Wenzel, J. Wenzel, "Glass," in AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008, http://www.accessscience.com

Maple Leaf Rag

“The Maple Leaf” is one of the most famous ragtime songs. Composed by Scott Joplin, Maple Leaf Rag became a new national trend, evolving into ragtime music. Maple Leaf Rag was named for a ragtime club, only open for a month, which contributed to the spread of the music’s popularity. Ragtime was piano-based, lively, and like any new trend, was met with both excitement and disgust. As we see in E.L. Doctorow’s novel Ragtime, ragtime provided both professional and social opportunities, as well as unease. When Coalhouse Walker, a ragtime pianist, plays for the family, we see the family’s reaction. Doctorow describes it by saying “The melodies were like bouquets. There seemed to be no other possibilities for life than those delineated by the music. When the piece was over Coalhouse Walker turned on the stool and found in his audience the entire family, Mother Father, the boy, Grandfather, and Mother’s Younger Brother, who of all of them he was the only one who knew ragtime. He had heard it in his nightlife period in New York. He had never expected to hear it in his sister’s home” (159). Doctorow uses the simile of bouquets to compare the elaborate musical notes to a collection of flowers. However, that is not how the family perceives the music. While some find it entrancing, and one member finds it familiar, the Father cannot recognize it at all; it is foreign to him, and, therefore, he is uncomfortable with the melodies. The family’s reaction is directly reflective of the nation’s reaction: mixed with appreciation, enjoyment, and disapproval.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAtL7n_-rc

1. Jasen, David A. Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History. New York: n.p., 1989.      

Print.

2. Levang, Rex. "100 Years of the Maple Leaf Rag." Music. Minnesota Public Radio,      

n.d. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/      

9905_ragtime/index.shtml>.

3. Maple Leaf (Scott Joplin). N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://imslp.org/      

wiki/Maple_Leaf_Rag_(Joplin,_Scott)>.

Younger Brother's Morality

In Doctorow’s Ragtime, Younger Brother spends the whole story searching for a higher meaning in life. He finds it in the creation of weapons and firearms and in the terrorist activities that he participates in for both Coalhouse Walker Junior’s gang and later the revolutionaries in Mexico. Yet, despite the killing and death and violence that Younger Brother is a part of throughout the story, he still exemplifies all the “good” qualities of a moral person. The question of Younger Brother’s morality is best answered by his creations throughout the story. After his death, the reader learns that “Younger Brother invented seventeen ordnance devices, some of which were so advanced that they were not used by the United States until World War II. They included a recoilless rocket grenade launcher, a low-pressure land mine, sonar-directed depth charges, infrared illuminated rifle sights, tracer bullets, a repeater rifle, a lightweight machine gun, a shrapnel grenade, puttied nitroglycerin, and a portable flamethrower…” (317). Obviously, Younger Brother worked hard throughout the story to pay back the debt that he owed father for his continued employment, and hard work is something valued by American society. But perhaps more important than the means by which Younger Brother invented his weapons are the weapons themselves. Every single one of Younger Brothers weapons was used with great effectiveness in World War II. For example, the M1 Garand Semi-automatic repeating rifle gave allied forces an advantage in World War II as they could fire off the 8-round magazine in less time than it took a comparable German soldier to fire off the 5-round magazine of his Bolt-action rifle. This advantage allowed the United States military to beat back the German invasion of Europe, and eventually liberate the concentration camps where the Germans had systematically murdered 12 million Jews and other minorities. The portable M2 flamethrower gave the Americans a significant advantage in the war in the Pacific, where American soldiers where captured American soldiers were tortured and brutally executed by the Japanese military. The other example of Younger Brother’s morality is shown in his diction towards father in the bathroom of J.P. Morgan’s library shortly before Coalhouse’s death: “You think it’s a crime to come into this building belonging to another man and to threaten his property. In fact this is the nest of a vulture. The den of a jackal…” (297).
The most important part of Younger Brother’s rant is the end, where he talks about Morgan. The comparison of Morgan, the symbol of wealth and the upper-class, to a jackal and a vulture, animals characterized for their excessive fear and stealing of others’ food, shows Younger Brother is trying to improve society through his allegiance to Coalhouse. He is aligned with progressivism, the main political movement of the ragtime era, and his metaphorical attack on Morgan shows that he is not a simple terrorist, but a confused moralist using his only means to try and improve his country.

By Jack Shumway

Bibliography:
"Garand rifle." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 10 May. 2011.

VIDEO:
"Army Tests New Weapons as Invasion Looms." Films Media Group. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE52&iPin=FMG067184&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 10, 2011).

"jackal." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 10 May. 2011. .

Ross, Bill D. Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor. New York: Vanguard, 1985. Print.

VIDEO LINK:
http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE52&iPin=FMG067184&SingleRecord=True

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the movies the little boy and young girl see with their parents on the boardwalk. Doctorow writes, “They saw Around the World in 80 Days. Clouds floated through the theatre. They saw Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (261). The book by Robert Louis Stevenson tells the story of a man who struggles with his duplicitous identity. “It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both; and from an early date . . . I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements,” explains Henry Jekyll (62). Jekyll conveys in his explanation that he struggled with his duplicitous persona, similar to how Tateh struggles to reconcile with his troubled past while living his new, happier life. The movie Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde debuted in 1920 with the tagline, “The world’s greatest actor in a tremendous story of man at his best and worst!” The movie focused on the man at his best (when he was Dr. Jekyll) and worst moments (Mr. Hyde). This relates to Tateh’s situation because he finally has a well-paying, stable job. Yet he found that job while fleeing from his past life. It is interesting that Doctorow chose to insert the movie as a metaphor in the text because it subtly highlights the concept that each of the characters in Ragtime undergoes a transformation in the book much like Dr. Jekyll. Historically speaking, the Roaring Twenties was an era marked by a transformative culture like “flappers” and new types of music and Doctorow’s reference to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde only emphasizes the revolutionized culture.

By Danielle Dalton

Photo can be found at: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2455149568/tt0011130

Sources:

"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)." Internet Movie Database. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2011. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 3 May 2011.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 1886. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003. Print.

Evelyn and Labor

In Ragtime, Evelyn Nesbit goes through a huge change after attending a speech by Emma Goldman that resulted in a long, freeing talk between the two. Afterwards, when Nesbit received compensation for her divorce, Doctorow describes, ”She supported radical appeals that came to her from all over the country once it became underground gossip that she had been politicized. She gave money to the legal defense of labor leaders who had been thrown in jail. She gave money to the parents of children mutilated in mills and factories”(88). By repeating the words “she gave” in a parallel structure, Doctorow emphasizes all of her charity. It is fitting that Doctorow would include this detail of Nesbit’s life to draw attention to the huge movement that was going on in working class America at the time. For years, powerful men had been earning huge profits through monopolizing industries and doing very little by way of compensation for their workers. It became necessary for unions to be formed in search of adequate factory conditions and salaries for all the men that were being exploited by the huge companies. The unions did not immediately gain the support of the government, and many leaders were arrested, just as shown in the previous passage. However, as the unions grew, they met more and more support from all people, and eventually the federal government did pass some laws supporting workers’ rights. Nesbit’s conversion to the cause has great historical significance, because it marks the shift in the American attitude towards working class people and their basic human rights.

By Marly Morgus

Boyer, Paul S. The Enduring Vision : A History of the American People: . 3rd ed. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Co., 1996.

Jaycox, Faith. "Introduction: The Progressive Era." The Progressive Era, Eyewitness History. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EHPEEssay01&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 2, 2011).

Ladies? Tailors Union strikers, NYC, 1910. 1910. Cosmeo, Powered by Discovery
Channel. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. .

Racial Tension

Throughout Ragtime, racial tension creates enormous riffs between characters. Whether it is an issue of black and white or Eskimo and American, gaps between racial stereotypes cause conflicts. For Coalhouse Walker, the racial stereotype of the poor black man creates a negative impression for the many white men that he comes across. The negative feelings reach a climax during the incident with the firemen when, upon seeing his clearly stable socioeconomic status, working class whites harass the accomplished black man. As Walker drives towards the city, he is stopped and told, “He was traveling on a private toll road and that he could not drive on without payment of twenty-five dollars”(175). Through the men’s tone, it is clear that the road is not actually a toll road, as confirmed when Coalhouse tells the men of all the times when he had traveled the length of the road without being forced to pay. Their patronizing diction makes their views towards black men clear, as though Coalhouse is not intelligent enough to know that the toll was not actually in place. The attitude of white men towards the success of black men goes back to before the emancipation of slaves, when the Free Soil Party was founded and the “slave power conspiracy” of a workforce consisting only of blacks was alive and well. The Party was pro-emancipation, but not because they supported the rights of black slaves. Instead, they wished to provide more paying jobs for white people that were struggling to make a living. This attitude is paralleled by the jealous reaction of the firefighters when they see that Coalhouse Walker must have a reasonable amount of money, because he drives a Model T Ford.

By Marly Morgus

Free-Soil Party. "Free-Soil Party Convention Report." American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=E14466&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 11, 2011).

Friedline, Richard L. "Free-Soil Party." In Rohrbough, Malcolm J., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Expansion and Reform, 1813 to 1855, Revised Edition (Volume IV). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHIV105&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 11, 2011).

Model T. N.d. Unique Cars and Parts USA. Web. 11 May 2011.
.

History

“And history books forgot about us and the bible didn't mention us

And the bible didn't mention us, not even once”

-“Samson”, Regina Spektor¹

Surely we all want to be remembered when we pass, knowing that in some way, by someone, we will not be forgotten once our bodies lay cold in the ground.  If the millions of square miles that are used as graveyards, ornamented with heavy and expensive tombs at everyone’s heads, don’t exemplify this, lets look at a more contemporary example; our desire in life to produce memorable and worthy work whose impact will echo in eternity.  To what extent, however, does this desire impact our lives, and how much bearing should it have on our actions and our happiness? 

Most people know the name Houdini, remembered as “one of the most renowned magicians of the 20th century”².  His name and story can be found in most history books and encyclopedias, and he has had an immense impact on the entertainment world in America.  In the book Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow, however, his character is deeply concerned with the lack of significance of his life and career, and his desire to have a more significant contribution to the world.  The author moves into free indirect discourse to represent his concern over this issue.  While Houdini is described to be marveling the current events of the time and the amazing discoveries and advancements that were being made, it says, “The real-world act was what got into the history books.”(99) Despite the fact that Houdini was, in fact, a significant historical figure, he has an insecurity about the insignificance of his work, which causes him to be very unhappy and discontent with his life. 

This desire to be remembered in history and make significant contributions to society for which they will be remembered is shown with father’s friend and comrade Peary, the Arctic explorer, as well.  He says that no one will accompany him to the pole because he has been waiting his entire life to do so and he does not want to share his glory with anyone (pg 76).  In reality, however, Robert Peary journeyed to the North Pole, accompanied by his assistant, Henson, and four Inuit men, only to return home to find another man claiming to have reached it a whole year earlier³.  Peary then spent the next few years of his life running about trying to discredit his competitor, Frederick A. Cook’s, claim to having reached the pole.  The Atlanta Constitution, a contemporary newspaper, published an article in October of 1909 about his latest attempt to discredit Cook’s achievement⁴.  While Peary was trying desperately to be remembered for his discovery, his enjoyment of his success was inhibited by his need to justify his accomplishment, rather than being personally proud of his work.  This attitude and his need to publically demonstrate his accomplishment illustrates his immense concern with being famous and setting a world record. 

Peary and Houdini’s desire to be notorious for their work and remembered in history is interesting in this text because of the way in which the author weaves together historical facts with fictional, or seemingly fictional, characters.  Both characters are famous, in their own right.  Houdini is the poster-child for magicians and escape artists, and Peary is remembered as the man who first reached the pole, with both of them mentioned in many history books and most encyclopedias.  Neither Houdini nor Peary, however, seem fully satisfied with their work, and while they both recognize the other and a significant person, they are deeply concerned with their own importance.  Neither have ever met the other, but they are linked not only through their recognition of each other because they are both famous, but through Father, who is one of the few characters who is not historically relevant.  While both characters seek recognition for their work and have a desire to be infamous and renowned after death, they are both left unsatisfied with their own accomplishments, no matter how well known they are by their contemporaries or how strongly their legacy is remembered. 

                                                                                               By Stephanie Vaughn

² Freund, Steve. "Houdini, Harry." In Faue, Elizabeth, and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: The Emergence of Modern America, 1900 to 1928, Revised Edition (Volume VII). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHVII109&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 26, 2011).

³ Waldman, Carl, and Alan Wexler. "Peary, Robert." Encyclopedia of Exploration, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EEXI702&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 26, 2011).

⁴ Peary, R., et al. "Peary Attempts to Discredit Cook by Testimony of Cook's Eskimo Boys: Another Chapter of the Polar War Peary Got Hold of Cook's Two Companions and Secured Statements from them. Peary Says Eskimos Traced Cook's Route and According to Peary, the Route Pointed Out Indicates that Cook Never Went Near the Pole---Peary's Statement Signed by several Members of His Expedition. Introduction by Peary. Route Taken by Cook shown by the Eskimos Peary Tries to Discredit Cook by Evidence of Cook's Eskimos Eskimo Father Called to Verify the Detail Cook then Crossed to Ellesmere Land Cook and the Eskimos Soon Turned to South Series of Questions Put to the Eskimos Position of the Island Criticised by One Boy Statement of the Boys Covers Cook's Journey Maybe Cook Got Mixed, Someone has Suggested After Killing Deer, Cook Went to South Eider Duck Eggs used Against Cook how Cook and Boys Returned to the Camp." The Atlanta Constitution (1881-2001): 1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Atlanta Constitution (1868-1945). Oct 13 1909. Web. 12 May 2011 <http://proxy.library.deerfield.edu:2048/docview/496261478?accountid=5249>.