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Questions from uncommonscholars.wordpress.com
Please feel free and pick and choose what questions you would like to answer.

1. When the story opens, the narrator describes life in the early 1900始s, saying that, 鈥淭here were no negroes. There were no immigrants.鈥� ( 4 ) What is ELD saying about the accuracy of historical
accounts?

2. Why do some of the characters have general names like 鈥淢other始s Younger Brother鈥� while others have proper names like Coalhouse Walker, Jr.?

3. ELD incorporates historical figures in a fictional context. ( Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund
Freud, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Booker T. Washington, and Emiliano Zapata ). Why do you think he chose these people? Why does ELD put them in situations we do not ordinarily associate with them?

4. Who do you think is the narrator of the story? How does he/she know all this information?

5. Why do you think Evelyn Nesbit is drawn to Tateh and the Little Girl?

6. Why do you think J.P. Morgan is so fascinated by Egyptology? Why does he invite Henry Ford to meet with him?

7. Was anyone bothered by the circumstances surrounding the buried baby in Mother始s backyard?

8. One of the novel始s main ideas is how characters react to change in the environment? What do their reactions say about their social positions, their historical significance as characters, and their individual personalities?

9. The story takes place during a time of technological progress and industrialization. What are some of the innovations represented in the book? How does ELD address the role of technology in the novel? How does he imply the advantages and disadvantages of science and technology?

10. Why do you think Mother始s younger Brother chose to help Coalhouse Walker?

11. Do you see any parallels to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960始s in the meeting between Booker T. Washington and Coalhouse Walker?

12. Why do you think Mother and Tateh wind up together? What draws them to each other? How is there is a vision of hope in Tateh始s vision of the Our Gang鈥� shorts movies?

13. Some characters in Ragtime search for peace and meaning in their lives. How does Harry Houdini illustrate the complexity of the search?

14. Why do you think ELD chose the quotation from Scott Joplin for the title page?

1. When the story opens...
From the perspective of upper middle class white families at the time, the immigrants and the African-Americans were not only out of sight, they were out of mind. They had absolutely no baring on their lives.

2. Why do some of the characters have general names like 鈥淢other始s Younger Brother鈥� while others have proper names like Coalhouse Walker, Jr.?
ELD wanted to make sure that the reader understood that some of the characters were representations of whole groups of people while others were very specific individuals.

3. ELD incorporates historical figures in a fictional context. ( Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund
Freud, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Booker T. Washington, and Emiliano Zapata ). Why do you think he chose these people? Why does ELD put them in situations we do not ordinarily associate with them?
I believe he selected these personages because, they appealed to him as people he could transform into characters, and because they did represent a broad cross section of the culture of that time. Evelyn Nesbit, for example, was born middle class but her father passed away while still young leaving Evelyn penniless. She was a classic rags to riches story, esteemed for her beauty as a Gibson Girl, chorus girl, actress and largely as the person who triggered the Thaw/White drama. ELD was able to give her a bit of a voice, a heart, particularly for the young child and a romance that had nothing to do with Thaw/White while not modifying by much her actual circumstances.

4. Who do you think is the narrator of the story? How does he/she know all this information?
The narrator on occasion, but not often, speaks in the first person plural, which gives you the impression that the narrator could be "The Little Boy", or "The Little Girl" or both when they are grown. However, it is ambiguous and there is a certain ironic tone that the narrator uses that is very modern that makes you think it is simply ELD writing in the 1970's and researching various documents of his historical characters.

5. Why do you think Evelyn Nesbit is drawn to Tateh and the Little Girl?
I believe that Evelyn recognizes something of herself in the little girl. They are both physically beautiful and often very sad. Both Tateh and the Little Girl are in some need of protecting from Evelyn's point of view and she hopes to do that good deed, but it is clear that she is getting more from Tateh and the girl than they are getting from her.

6. Why do you think J.P. Morgan is so fascinated by Egyptology? Why does he invite Henry Ford to meet with him?
JP Morgan was unique in his time and had no real peer group. In Egyptology he found a framework that implied that he had lived before and would live again. It was the turn of that century version of mutants with superpowers (The Avengers). He believed that Henry Ford was also one of them.

7. Was anyone bothered by the circumstances surrounding the buried baby in Mother始s backyard?
Yes. The fact that Sarah was considered the victim and not a murderer was interesting. The fact that a white woman "raises her up" was interesting.

8. One of the novel始s main ideas is how characters react to change in the environment? What do their reactions say about their social positions, their historical significance as characters, and their individual personalities?
I enjoyed the way that the Father, Mother, Younger Brother and Boy slowly changed over time to being specific individuals with divergent motivations. They all had the social foundations of privilege to be able to diverge and make choices that may have set them apart, even ostracized them, but they were still protected by money. The Fire Chief was shocked that his skin color did not protect him in the end. Coalhouse knew he was completely unprotected and yet in order to maintain his sanity, his dignity and his sense of self, had to stand firm rather than change.

9. The story takes place during a time of technological progress and industrialization. What are some of the innovations represented in the book? How does ELD address the role of technology in the novel? How does he imply the advantages and disadvantages of science and technology?
The car stands as a symbol of technology and it is the ruin of Coalhouse. He is able to afford it as an "everyman" but is not allowed to have it as a symbol of being well off or even dignified. The other obvious technology is Younger Brother and all his new armaments. ELD probably saw technology as allowing a leveling of the common man. Not everyone could afford someone to do the laundry, but you could see that a washing machine would allow many more people to be freed from that drudgery. However, he also signals that technology will be used, as any other resource always has been, for the good of the rich.

10. Why do you think Mother始s younger Brother chose to help Coalhouse Walker?
Younger Brother didn't have much sense of self other than as a person afflicted with romantic dreams. He saw in Coalhouse what he could not find in himself, a man who was not beaten by his romantic dream of marrying Sarah, a man who would not back down, would not be used. I think Younger Brother really did believe in anarchy and found in Coalhouse an instrument through which he could live the anarchist ideal. Emma would not have been amused.

11. Do you see any parallels to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960始s in the meeting between Booker T. Washington and Coalhouse Walker?
In this reading of the book, I did see a great deal of what had happened in the 60's and a narrator writing in the 70's with knowledge of what unfolded. There is the meeting of Martin Luther King (Washington) and Malcolm X (Coalhouse) and there is the death of Malcolm X.

12. Why do you think Mother and Tateh wind up together? What draws them to each other? How is there is a vision of hope in Tateh始s vision of the "Our Gang鈥� shorts movies?
Mother was able to mature her perspectives to the point that she could see Tateh as an energetic, hopeful individual capable of great love rather than as a "Jew". Tateh sees her as someone who can see him in his fullness and who he doesn't have to pretend with about who he is. The people of the early comic and film era (which was later than the period of this book) who started writing comics, and started the early US film industry were largely Jewish. Stan Lee in comics for example, or in the film industry; Zukor, Loew, Mayer, and the Warners. They were not limited by a cultural perception that this was a form of lower class entertainment. ELD takes a liberty here I was not happy with in that "Our Gang" was created by Hal Roach. Hal Roach had none of Tateh's background. Perhaps the implication was simply that Tateh had an idea that Hal Roach picked up on later. In this book, there is a positive aspect of seeing a group of kids of different classes and different races playing together. However, generally speaking, if you watch the Our Gang shorts now they come across as incredibly racist.

13. Some characters in Ragtime search for peace and meaning in their lives. How does Harry Houdini illustrate the complexity of the search?
I enjoyed the illustration of Harry Houdini. He was an Hungarian Jew making good in the US, who was very committed to his craft, even if it was perceived as merely entertainment by most of the population, and he was also committed to investigating supernatural fakes. I found him to be a really interesting character in this book.
14. Why do you think ELD chose the quotation from Scott Joplin for the title page?
Perhaps because it is a fast reading book, but it has many rhythms and themes that should not be missed if you just zip through it.

1. When the story opens, the narrator describes life in the early 1900始s, saying that, 鈥淭here were no negroes. There were no immigrants.鈥� (4) What is ELD saying about the accuracy of historical accounts?
Traditional histories tend to focus on the 鈥済reat men and women,鈥� either as symbolic of the age in some way, or as causal factors in change (like Stanford White and the American Renaissance in architecture). Doctorow is trying to show that if you simply focus on them 鈥� the rich, the famous, the powerful 鈥� you are not getting the whole picture of an era. Ragtime will feature both African Americans and immigrants as central characters, so it will attempt to broaden that picture.

2. Why do some of the characters have general names like 鈥淢other始s Younger Brother鈥� while others have proper names like Coalhouse Walker, Jr.?
It seems to me that the people who have real names were actual people, but the people with general names are 鈥渢ypes.鈥� They may not have really existed, but you get the sense that thousands like them did. Additionally, Coalhouse Walker is the only 鈥渇ictional鈥� character with a proper name, which makes it seem like he did exist and gives his life and actions a sense of 鈥渞ealism.鈥�

3. ELD incorporates historical figures in a fictional context. (Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Booker T. Washington, and Emiliano Zapata). Why do you think he chose these people? Why does ELD put them in situations we do not ordinarily associate with them?
I am guessing he picked people who were emblematic of the era in some way 鈥� representing advancements in the arts, sciences, politics, business, and popular culture. Perhaps he wants to 鈥渉umanize鈥� them or complicate them. For example, Evelyn Nesbit was known for her looks, sexuality, for supposedly inspiring a murder, but she may also have been a caring, intelligent human being.

4. Who do you think is the narrator of the story? How does he/she know all this information?
On pg. 318, the narrator recounts Father鈥檚 death, saying, 鈥淧oor Father.鈥� This is, as far as I know, the only hint we have that his son is the narrator.

5. Why do you think Evelyn Nesbit is drawn to Tateh and the Little Girl?
It might be because of the way Tateh cared for his daughter, even tying her to him so she would be kept safe. The Little Girl seems to bring out something of her maternal side. They also both seem rather old-fashioned, even innocent, for example, his art of making silhouettes (although ironically, he will be at the forefront of the newest art form, cinema).

6. Why do you think J.P. Morgan is so fascinated by Egyptology? Why does he invite Henry Ford to meet with him?
He wants to understand his 鈥済reatness,鈥� perhaps. He can鈥檛 be a king in America, so perhaps it makes him feel even more important to believe that he was a Pharoh in a past life. Believing in an afterlife also assures he is immortal.

7. Was anyone bothered by the circumstances surrounding the buried baby in Mother始s backyard?
Mother is the only person concerned about the baby and the fate of his mother. Everyone else just wants to find the mother so she can be punished for attempted murder.

8. One of the novel始s main ideas is how characters react to change in the environment? What do their reactions say about their social positions, their historical significance as characters, and their individual personalities?
Father struggles with change, never being comfortable with Sarah and the baby living in the house and finding it difficult to accept Coalhouse. He does try to help with the firemen and the Ford situation, but I got the sense that it was mostly to protect his own reputation and/or because Mother insisted on it. Mother, on the other hand, seems to roll with the times (e.g., taking over responsibilities at the fireworks factory while Father is at the North Pole; caring for Sarah and her child; embracing friendship and then love with an immigrant artist). I鈥檓 not sure why she is able to do this, other than the fact that she does not seem to hold many prejudices.

9. The story takes place during a time of technological progress and industrialization. What are some of the innovations represented in the book? How does ELD address the role of technology in the novel? How does he imply the advantages and disadvantages of science and technology?
The Ford motorcar and the assembly line mode of production are the most obvious examples of industrialization, but cinema is also an important invention that Tateh seems to intuitively take to. Younger Brother鈥檚 inventions are significant, although many will not be adopted until WWII. Some of these innovations seem relatively harmless (e.g. cinema) or potentially empowering (as Morgan notes, anyone with a few hundred dollars can buy a car). However, owning a car does not empower Coalhouse but, in fact, inspires jealously in the white firemen. And Tateh ends up making 鈥減reparedness鈥� films for WWI, so even those inventions have a dark side. Goldman would probably say that Capitalism ruins everything :)

10. Why do you think Mother始s younger Brother chose to help Coalhouse Walker?
Young Brother wants something to believe in. At first, it is his passion for Evelyn Nesbit. When that proves to be a fling, he continues searching, and Emma Goldman gives him a new 鈥渃ause,鈥� making him aware of the way mainstream society exploits the poor. He extends this sympathy to Coalhouse, who is treated unfairly and victimized for no reason other than the color of his skin.

11. Do you see any parallels to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960始s in the meeting between Booker T. Washington and Coalhouse Walker?
It seems a deliberate parallel to Martin Luther King Jr. (Washington) and Malcolm X (Walker). Coalhouse turns to violence as the only solution to his problems, while the Washington opposes agitation/violence and advocates 鈥渇riendship between the races.鈥�

12. Why do you think Mother and Tateh wind up together? What draws them to each other? How is there is a vision of hope in Tateh始s vision of the Our Gang鈥� shorts movies?
I loved that he turned out to be the creator of the Little Rascals, and that he is inspired by the immigrant girl, the white boy, and the Black child all playing happily together. I鈥檓 not sure the films ended up representing race and gender equality, but they are probably better than anything else made in that era.

13. Some characters in Ragtime search for peace and meaning in their lives. How does Harry Houdini illustrate the complexity of the search?
When his mother dies, he starts to doubt the meaning of his stunts and other exploits 鈥� he starts to worry that he hasn鈥檛 really achieved anything other than making a bunch of money. His fame seems unimportant. But searching for his mother in the afterlife gives him a purpose, exposing the many frauds who exploit grieving people like him. He seems to have found a new sense of purpose at the end of the book 鈥� a way to use his fame for good. He even has one genuine 鈥渕ystical鈥� experience.

14. Why do you think ELD chose the quotation from Scott Joplin for the title page?
It鈥檚 weird that it says, 鈥淒o not play this piece fast,鈥� because his writing style is really 鈥渇ast.鈥� As the entry in Boxall notes, the words and sentences seem to tumble after each other. I also think of ragtime music as fast, as least the piano parts. As Gail says (above), he is maybe warning us to take our time with it, to note the themes so we will appreciate the eventual connections and intersections at the book鈥檚 conclusion.

1: this to me was summarizing the starting perspective of Mother and Father and people like them, not historical fiction, since a few pages later Emma Goldman has scolded Evelyn and she learns "apparently there were Negros, there were immigrants".

2 and 3:
Mother and Father are used as representative of America, they are almost tropes when we start. In contrast, the famous people people are seen in very personal private moments - many having crises of faith (except Ford, who is the forward looking one) - to illustrate tension from the transition occurring in society. The second half comes together around a more individual story, a Black man and woman with names, in order to show us how impossible it was for Black men and women to have individual dignity. We also have a Jewish family making good through entertainment, assimilating as "European" and exotic without religion.

8, 10 and 12: These questions are about the family adapting to change, as a metaphor for America in the new century.

Father's energy and interest is mostly away from home and he is also aloof and unable to relate to either set of others trying to gain a place in America. Although he is not actively malicious, he does not really help, even when he thinks he tries to help. Younger Brother takes the path of violence and revolution as the answer to oppression, and so he is helping the way he has been asked to help - but does this really help anyone if it just leads to more death? Mother's wall is broken down by the arrival of Sara and her baby and she becomes actually maternal (and beautiful, and more sensual) and open to the world - she is a hope for the spirit of America.

5, 6 and 13: The crises of faith among the historical characters was one of my favorite parts of this book. The crises of faith from Houdini grow though out, he pushes himself to more and more daring stunts, trying to gain recognition and love as himself, but really just seen as a servant and circus clown. That is why he goes to Europe and is away when his mother dies, which is the trigger for him to see that he had the love that actually mattered all the time.

The delicious contrast for me was with JP Morgan, imaging himself a reincarnated god (and seeming quite clown like to the reader), spending a night in a pyramid, which he can do because of his wealth, and from which in a sense he does not escape.

Evelyn being obsessed with Tateh and his daughter was also reaction to a kind of crisis of faith in her way of life after the murder of her lover by her husband, to believe that her power over men was not just about sex but was some how more exalted, that she was good in herself.

14. Why do you think ELD chose the quotation from Scott Joplin for the title page?

As Gail and Jane both said, I read this novel fast too. I don't see how you could go slowly, it pulls you along at speed, just like every ragtime piece I have ever heard. So I did a bit of research on the quote above. It turns out that he intended for the play to be fast-ish (March temp, quarter = 120; or slow march q=100) but he didn't like the racing speeds of performers going at 150, where you lost the sense of the syncopation and the interweaving lines to a blur of sound. I definitely read this at a quick march - but slow enough to hear the harmonics, which I think is the point.

where you lost the sense of the syncopation and the interweaving lines to a blur of sound. I definitely read this at a quick march - but slow enough to hear the harmonics, which I think is the point

Well said Gail!

1. When the story opens, the narrator describes life in the early 1900始s, saying that, 鈥淭here were no negroes. There were no immigrants.鈥� ( 4 ) What is ELD saying about the accuracy of historical
accounts?
2. Why do some of the characters have general names like 鈥淢other始s Younger Brother鈥� while others have proper names like Coalhouse Walker, Jr.?
I feel these two questions kind of belong together, they鈥檙e both devices for what Doctorow is showing about history and the era of the book. History that is top down or told from one perspective (educated ruling class) isn鈥檛 a true representation but it鈥檚 the one that gets accepted. Turning this around, we get generic characters following the types we see in history and literature, but there are also individual human beings whose actions are now ignored or forgotten.

3. ELD incorporates historical figures in a fictional context. (Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Booker T. Washington, and Emiliano Zapata). Why do you think he chose these people? Why does ELD put them in situations we do not ordinarily associate with them?
ELD is challenging the popular view of the historic figures and humanising them by unlinking them from their usual context. For example, stressing Houdini鈥檚 obsessive love for his mother makes him a different figure from the escapologist persona.

5. Why do you think Evelyn Nesbit is drawn to Tateh and the Little Girl?
Evelyn sees something fragile and innocent which distracts her from the kind of life she has been living, maybe even reminding her of herself when she was young. Tateh鈥檚 pride is something for her to get round as she tries to win him over.

7. Was anyone bothered by the circumstances surrounding the buried baby in Mother始s backyard?
It was quite alarming as the child could easily have died. Mother鈥檚 compassion and practical common sense made the difference, and provided safety for mother and baby rather than punishing them.

8. One of the novel始s main ideas is how characters react to change in the environment? What do their reactions say about their social positions, their historical significance as characters, and their individual personalities?
Father is resistant to change and I found his fate rather sad, he was used to being the leader and anchor of the family and when the world he recognises starts to slip away, he is lost. I felt he represented the old America of the pioneers and adventurers but there wasn鈥檛 a place for him. Tateh and his daughter were lower socially but that gave them a freedom and flexibility to adapt, they had no ties either so could just move on. Coalhouse resisted change but his was an active choice, his demands were reasonable but because of his colour he had little option to adapt anyway so he took the line of resistance.

9. The story takes place during a time of technological progress and industrialization. What are some of the innovations represented in the book? How does ELD address the role of technology in the novel? How does he imply the advantages and disadvantages of science and technology?
The car, printing, cinema, explosives. There are obvious advantages with technology - more leisure time, the ability to travel, the accumulation of wealth - but it also takes you away from the spiritual and nature. Morgan and Houdini are both searching for something outside themselves.

10. Why do you think Mother始s younger Brother chose to help Coalhouse Walker?
He is resentful about Father鈥檚 wealth and his subservient role in the family so he is looking for a way to rebel. He wants to find his cause, especially after his quest for love with Evelyn is unsuccessful, but his anger and bitterness take him on a negative path. He is a kind of opposite to Mother.

12. Why do you think Mother and Tateh wind up together? What draws them to each other? How is there is a vision of hope in Tateh始s vision of the Our Gang shorts movies?
I didn鈥檛 really appreciate Mother and Tateh together, I was hoping that Father and Mother would find a way forward together. There鈥檚 a kind of falsity and opportunism about Tateh (like assuming the name of 鈥楾he Baron鈥�) that didn鈥檛 seem to gel with Mother鈥檚 wisdom and wider perspective, but maybe that鈥檚 how ELD sees America developing. I liked how he at least aimed for wider representation in his works, it set a hopeful touch

13. Some characters in Ragtime search for peace and meaning in their lives. How does Harry Houdini illustrate the complexity of the search?
Houdini isn鈥檛 valued or appreciated for himself, however much he pushes the boundaries to offer more exciting illusions and experiences. His travels do not being satisfaction. Eventually he tries to focus on exposing frauds and charlatans but the quest is never straightforward and he finds peace is elusive and not lasting.