Ragtime: Embrace or Resist Changes?
Doctorow defined America’s early 20th century with a series of technological, cultural, and political changes. Upon examining the consequences of different personal responses to such changes, an interesting trend of individuals finding success through embracing change surfaced. In the story, characters who embrace transformation, such as Tateh, rise into new identities and life; those who resist, like Father, trap themself in the past. The opposite fates of these characters portray one’s adaptation ability as essential to finding identity and stability in a constantly developing society.
Tateh’s journey starts as a powerless immigrant at the bottom of the social pyramid. Living in the Lower East Side slum, their family suffers severe poverty to the extent that his wife was coerced into selling her body. Even under such abject situations, Tateh perseveres and not once sacrifices his pride. This perseverance to defend his dignity is shown through his reluctance to accept Evelyn’s financial offers. Evelyn finds that she can only approach him “by coming to have her silhouette done” (Doctorow, 44). Tateh's refusal to accept other people’s charity out of pity and adherence to equal trade shows his resilience. By trading with Evelyn, he places himself on a more equal footing with her: instead of plainly offering, she is playing for his artistic talent. His value to Evelyn is worth more than pure pity. Evelyn’s offering may have stemmed from kindness, but it may also be offensive to Tateh as it derogatively frames his family as fragile and in need of help. Such interactions present Tateh's sensitivity to his surroundings and determination not to lose his value. As he travels across states looking for opportunities, he holds similar firm holds on his talents. Such an observant nature and determination grounded his eventual success in motion art and film. These traits allowed him to recognize industrial changes in America and align his talents with the demands. By embracing such changes and sticking to his own values, Tateh was able to find his niche in society, gaining both status and stability.
Conversely, Father exemplifies a conventionalist. Father’s ideas of exploration and traditional family structures in an evolving American world eventually isolate him from his family. Referring to the multi-universe idea of fiction writing, Father seems to live in a regressive world while everyone else lives in another progressing one. When these two worlds clash, Father will find himself estranged and confused as he is being confronted by all the social reforms that have moved on past him. An instance of this shocking confrontation happens after his return from the Arctic, when he discovers that “everything she [mother] had done [in his firework factory in his absence] stood up under his examination” (112). Engraved in Father’s mind was the traditional masculine belief of women being submissive under their husbands. Therefore, it comes as a flabbergast to Father when he suddenly finds out about Mother’s capability to be independent. The idea is both new and a threat to his authority in the family. Unlike Tateh, who observes and adapts to the change, Father refuses to accept it. His stubborn clinging to traditional ideas leaves him both alienated from his society and left behind in modernizing America.
Either embracing or resisting changes, Doctorow highlights the theme of constant change in society. Literary works focusing on the transformative nature of the world are not new; in fact, it can be observed in Percy Shelley’s “Mutability” centuries earlier. Closing with the line “...Nought may endure but Mutability,” the speaker emphasizes change as the only everlasting truth in the world. Ragtime experiments with different responses to such constant evolutions. While the flexible ones ascend into wealth and stability, the stubborn ones are left behind. As our culture will never stop transforming, everyone juggles with the possibility of falling into history or adapting to the new world; our fate lies in our hands.
Thank you for reading! Any feedback is appreciated!
Toodles :D
Works Cited:
Doctorow, E. L. Ragtime. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007.
Extra credit for citing Shelley's "Mutability" in the context of _Ragtime_! This is an excellent and clarifying way to dissect two key figures in this novel: the two respective, unnamed patriarchs of their respective families, we see one who resists change and is left behind by history, and another who rides the wave of change to success. And it's a funny twist that Mother plays a common role here--one arc of the novel entails her slowly leaving Father and joining Tateh. So let's include Mother in our list of characters who are open to change--she's reading Emma Goldman after Father returns from the pole, and she upbraids him for his narrow-mindedness on race. In her own way, Mother becomes quite a "modern" character in this novel.
ReplyDeleteHey Ruijing, this is an incredible comparison! I love how you depicted the impact of the sharp turn of culture during Ragtime, and how change is really the only true thing in life. This was an amazing and interesting topic that not only looks at the world of specific figures in Ragtime, but the bigger picture of people overall. I also think it's interesting that Tateh is pictured with such determination and Father is pictured with such resistance to the way the world changes, and that this might play into who ends up with Mother. Amazing amazing job ruijing!!
ReplyDeleteThis comparison of Tateh's perseverance and resilience with Father's (deadly, eventually?) romanticization of the past is a very well-written summary of the differences between each of their actions and beliefs. You clearly discuss how this difference furthers two key themes or motifs of the book, "worlds colliding" and "change," as well. And you even manage to seamlessly bring in a Percy Shelley quote at the end in a way that perfectly summarizes the feelings one gets when experiencing Tateh and Father's stories! I agree with Mr. Mitchell - if I could give you extra credit too, I would.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruijing, REALLY well done blog. First of all, I love the two characters that you selected for this post. Tateh, representing what happens when we embrace change, and Father, who represents what happens when we resist it. Instantly I see irony in that both of these characters are fathers, Tateh literally means father, but these fathers are polar opposites. Second of all, I love the period of time that this story was set in, the 1900s were FULL of change, especially racially with the whole coalhouse walker saga. The story almost begins with a broken time, with people getting murdered and starting in poverty and then ends with arguably the beginning of the first world war and more. But I find it so interesting how much these two characters represent what we DO with that change. How we adapt, and either thrive, or fail. I think that there are a lot of parallels to modern day society with this theme.
ReplyDeleteRuijing, I really enjoyed reading your blog! You take a pretty simple claim and show how the character doesn't just fit into your claim, but HOW their traits and choices play a huge role. I love that you not only connected 2 characters but also two literary pieces together. Shows how much time and effort you put into this blog post! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Ruijing! I love how you highlighted the ever-changing dynamics of society and the consequences of falling behind as well as the opportunity it brings. One thing to consider is the irony of Evelyn Nesbit helping him develop his craft. Her endless barrage of purchases gives Tateh the chance to learn new skills, as is shown through him adding backgrounds and more details in his silhouettes. This skill allows him to keep moving with society. You did a really good job of showing how Father fell out of touch with society, however you could elaborate on the consequences that followed. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruijing! :D! I really like how you contradicted Father and Tateh's character transformation. I hadn't thought about that fact that Tateh and Father are two very good examples of the 1900s and then the changes of the 1900s. I also like how you highlighted how fast culture changed in Ragtime. GOOD JOB!!!
ReplyDelete