As I was reading Ragtime, I noticed that there's been a
running theme of obsession. A lot of the main characters in Ragtime become fixated on one idea, thing,
or person, and they feel aimless without it. They seem like they're trying to
compensate for some emptiness in their lives. When Emma Goldman is talking to
Mother's Younger Brother, she asks him a question: "Why can't you accept
your own freedom? Why do you have to cling to someone in order to live?" This
quote sums up the mindsets of many of the characters very well.
The most obvious example is
Mother's Younger Brother, who obsesses over Evelyn, and once he loses her,
becomes involved in Coalhouse's radical activities. Younger Brother always
needs to find something to take over his life, and without anything to fixate
on he becomes restless and depressed. In chapter 24, after Younger Brother
talks to Emma Goldman, we see what he's like when he has nothing to consume
him. He feels like he is suffocating, and needs to be constantly active in
order to keep depression at bay. It doesn't work. Once he starts making bombs
for Coalhouse, his radical political ideas give him something to be a part of
and his depression fades.
Coalhouse becomes obsessed too over
the course of the novel, although his reasons are different and more obvious
than Younger Brother's. When he first appears, he seems like a moderate, polite
man leading a relatively balanced life. After Sarah dies, he becomes obsessed
with getting his version of justice from the firefighters, taking it so far
that his actions could be considered terrorism. Even before Sarah's death, he
is focused on getting his car (and respect) from the firefighters, but it's
only after he loses her that he really crosses the line. Coalhouse is different
from many of the other characters in that he has a specific loss triggering his
obsession rather than a general malaise. In class, we discussed whether
Coalhouse is "crazed" or whether he pursues his justice in a
clearheaded manner. I would argue that even though he acts in a very methodical
way, Coalhouse is still driven by obsession.
When we first meet J.P. Morgan, he is restless and feels
like he has nothing worthwhile left to do because he's made it so much farther
than anyone else. Out of all the characters, Morgan's empty feeling is perhaps
the most explicitly stated. He feels isolated from everyone, in a way that reminds me a little of characters from many of the novels we read last semester in 20th-Century Novel (now I want to write more about this...it's not relevant to this post, though, so I'll hold off). He has nothing to ground him in his life/relations with other people because he feels like he's above everything, and so he looks for something else to feel connected with. As a result, he takes his interest in Egypt to ridiculous levels and creeps Ford out a little by seeing what he wants to see, even if it isn't really there (Ford's apparent resemblance to the sarcophagus = he is the pharaoh reincarnated). Similar to J.P. Morgan, Evelyn has no one in her life who really sees past her celebrity status, and so she also feels empty (although without the conviction that she's better than everyone else). That's why she latches on to the little girl so strongly and obsesses over her.
I'm interested to see if/how the different characters become disillusioned with their obsessions as the book goes on, and what they do after that.It's already happened with Evelyn and to some extent Younger Brother.
I'm interested to see if/how the different characters become disillusioned with their obsessions as the book goes on, and what they do after that.It's already happened with Evelyn and to some extent Younger Brother.
Interesting thoughts -- I had noted the Younger Brother obsession, but not the other characters so much. When you called Coalhouse's mentality obsessive, I had a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction because it seemed dismissive. However, perhaps there are some elements of truth to it. I think I might be making the same mistake that Coalhouse's young followers made in equated "Coalhouse the movement" (aka racial justice) with "Coalhouse the man." Honestly, when it comes to Coalhouse the man, we don't get much other evidence than that he wants his car back. He never makes a statement about how the destruction of his car is representative of larger issues -- and Doctrow even gets rid of Younger Brother's opportunity to engage him on that idea (his speech). It's implied that racial justice is part of Coalhouse's reasons for his actions; that's something that we've assumed as readers. It's totally unclear whether or not Coalhouse feels the same way. If he doesn't, then perhaps it isn't dismissive to call him obsessed.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't though of "obsession"as being a major theme in the book but after reading your post, it seems like most characters were obsessed in some way or another. J.P Morgan and Coalhouse Walker are great examples but even Harry Houdini seems to be obsessed with his mother (might to too strong to use the word obsessed). But as you in your introduction "A lot of the main characters in Ragtime become fixated on one idea, thing, or person, and they feel aimless without it."When Houdini's mother dies, Houdini's certainly feels aimless and his entire lifestyle and personality seems to change.
ReplyDeleteAstute observations, these are. I think the historical characters not mentioned also provide examples (like Houdini with death, Emma Goldman with interactions and shaping people she feels need character, etc.) I think each obsession not only drives the characters, it brings them together as well. For example, Emma Goldman's influence causes Younger Brother to pursue a "career" helping out with different justice movements, it is J.P. Morgan's obsession with treasures that makes Coalhouse's final action such a big deal, Father's exploration drive leads Mother to make a lot of choices without Father's consent, and of course Coalhouse's insistence on justice brings everyone in the book together.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right in pointing out all of the strange passions many characters in the novel possess. I'm trying to understand why Doctorow would include so many of these strong, and sometimes strange, desires. Houdini's "obsessive" mother-love, for example, could easily have been omitted. It seems to me like Doctorow treats most of the obsessions with irony. Except for Coalhouse, all of the characters mentioned in your blog post (Younger Brother and J.P. Morgan) are pretty heavily satirized. Maybe the obsessions are just one more way for Doctorow to portray the distance that these characters have from reality? Again, this wouldn't explain Coalhouse's need for justice, but it seems to be a common feature between the other passion-driven characters.
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