Jesse Emerich 3/20/14
Ragtime Essay Lit & Pol Bl. 4BDF
E. L. Doctorow’s novel, Ragtime, provides a tale which intertwines historical characters with fictional characters in turn-of-the-century America. Halfway between fiction and history, the novel drives the reader to question what is real and what is fake. Through interlocking stories and relationships, each character develops their own distinctive story and personality. Set in a time of great change, the characters experience and undergo great transformation, for better or for worse. Two important movements happening during this time was the women’s rights movement and the African American civil rights movement. Both Mother and Coalhouse respectively represent these movements throughout the novel and the changes of the time period.
The beginning of the novel portrays Mother as what would have been considered the normal housewife. She cooked, cleaned, cared for her child, and pleased her husband. But during her husband’s absence, she gained some independence, taking over his work duties. Upon Father’s return, it is evident that the woman he has come back to is a changed woman and Mother and Father’s relationship changes drastically. He notices on their bedside table, pamphlets by Emma Goldman, an anarchist revolutionary advocating equality between men and women. This shows Mother’s interest in women’s rights and her independence when it came to her thoughts. Mother seems to grow more open intellectually and sexually, which irritates Father as she is straying from the...
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... he suffered great discrimination at the hands of white Americans. His fight for justice was admirable as he strived for equal treatment, but his means turned violent and his fight became a battle at which he became a villain. Mother seems to be successful at attaining her goals of becoming her own person and finding happiness, while Coalhouse does receive his Model T, repaired, his love has died in the process and so he welcomes death in the end, accepting that his fight is over. But with the ending of the novel came great historical triumph, Mother wholly displayed the new age as she accepted Tateh, a Jewish Socialist, as her husband, not caring about where he was from or his political standings, but simply enjoyed his character, and Coalhouse had revealed to many, the prejudiced treatment he had endured and thus raised awareness of African American discrimination.
Among them are only four women of all ages: the Grandma, the Mother and her two daughters, the pregnant Rose of Sharon and the young Ruthie. Appearing in Chapter Eight, the mother, who is referred to as “Ma”, holds a decisive role in Steinbeck’s novel. She is, along with her son Tom (the main character of the book), present from the early stage of the story until its very end. We will attempt to trace back her emotional journey (I) as well as to analyze its universal aspects and to deliver an overall impression on the book (II). Steinbeck describes Ma as a strong woman, physically “heavy, thick with childbearing and work” (Chap.8).
Although they dream of riches, they begin life in America in poverty. The fictional story of Ragtime accurately depicts history. The story gives a realistic picture of what New York City was like at that time by using fictional and real people and describing events in the book that mirror real life. " Based on the bestseller by E.L. Doctorow, "Ragtime" artfully blends historical events (immigration, the industrial revolution, the birth of the civil-rights movement, women's suffrage and the invention of motion pictures) and historical figures (Henry Ford, Booker T. Washington, Harry Houdini, Emma Goldman, Admiral Perry) with fictional characters to paint a nation in the making in the early 20th century" (Jim Ruth). Ragtime takes place in New York City, during the 1900’s.
Janie's Grandmother is the first bud on her tree. She raised Janie since she was a little girl. Her grandmother is in some respects a gardener pruning and shaping the future for her granddaughter. She tries to instill a strong belief in marriage. To her marriage is the only way that Janie will survive in life. What Nanny does not realize is that Janie has the potential to make her own path in the walk of life. This blinds nanny, because she is a victim of the horrible effects of slavery. She really tries to convey to Janie that she has her own voice but she forces her into a position where that voice is silenced and there for condemning all hopes of her Granddaughter become the woman that she is capable of being.
The story also focuses in on Ruth Younger the wife of Walter Lee, it shows the place she holds in the house and the position she holds to her husband. Walter looks at Ruth as though he is her superior; he only goes to her for help when he wants to sweet talk his mama into giving him the money. Mama on the other hand holds power over her son and doesn’t allow him to treat her or any women like the way he tries to with Ruth. Women in this story show progress in women equality, but when reading you can tell there isn’t much hope and support in their fight. For example Beneatha is going to college to become a doctor and she is often doubted in succeeding all due to the fact that she is black African American woman, her going to college in general was odd in most people’s eyes at the time “a waste of money” they would say, at least that’s what her brother would say. Another example where Beneatha is degraded is when she’s with her boyfriend George Murchison whom merely just looks at her as arm
The novel Ragtime, written by E. L. Doctorow, tells the tale of the many hardships that many experienced at this time. During this time there was a vast range of technological advances that caused change in everyday life. Although all of the characters differed in race, gender, and even social class, they all dealt with their changing society in variety of ways. Some flourished and prospered in it, while others had aversion towards it. This time period was known as the “Gilded Age” where America was viewed as a lavish place where anyone could escape poverty and become successful and free. This captivating illusion obscured the truth of what the nation actually contained. It was a time of greed and corruption, of brutal industrial competition and harsh exploitation of labor.
As soon as the novel begins, Hurston presents the reader with a disparity between the motives of men and women. In identifying the belief that men are realistic whereas women are idealistic, Hurston introduces the reader to the distinctions between men and women that will emerge throughout the novel. Janie’s mother figure, Nanny, draws attention to gender roles early on in the novel as she attempts to bring Janie to her senses about men and relationships. When
In many of her stories, Freeman “invests the women with power and yet simultaneously limits their power'; (http://www.georgetown.edu/libraries/ 2). Old Woman Magoun has a mysterious command over people, but it doesn’t help her when it comes to keeping Lily. She still has to relinquish her control over the child and she has no power to change the circumstances. Freeman makes the old woman suffer the “realities of nineteenth-century New England'; (2). These realities are that a woman must abide by her socially defined and accepted role and if she does not abide, she will suffer the consequences that result.
He mentions how far women have come since his grandmother's day, but realizes the country as a whole has more room to grow. He mentions how tough it can be for women to juggle a demanding career while raising a family. Both text reference what honor motherhood is but they also admit the demanding workforce can determine how successful a mother they can be. Women today may not face slavery, but they face double standards that limit them to be successful professionals and parents.
At the early 20th century before the World War I, American society was undergoing a cultural revolution. People were constantly looking for their identity and the meaning of life in these changes. Mingling the historical reality with fiction, Doctorow’s Ragtime perfectly grasps the struggles of Americans with different social classes. People in the novel either welcome the changes and complete the transformation or hang on to the old social norms and become deserted by society. Mother, one character from an upper-class family living in New Rochelle, belongs to the former and experiences many changes throughout the story as a wife and simply as a woman.
In the novel Ragtime, many aspects of the American society are explored. The reader gets an understanding of the history and hardships of different social classes, races, and cultures during the last century. A persistent theme established is the existence of the American dream. Doctorow expresses his fascination of the social mobility since it includes the impoverished and underprivileged. However, he highlights that when attempting to reach success, one is required to make sacrifices, negotiating his morality and identity. Tateh and Coalhouse are crucial examples of how the demands, prejudices, and opportunities of the American society can change a man’s mentality.
Similarly to the way people hold expectations for the daystar, or sun, to rise every day, mothers are expected to perform their duties like cleaning the house or taking care of the children. Both are taken advantage of and are not fully appreciated until they stop performing their duties. Throughout the poem, the woman’s daughter and husband are given names, “Liza” (line 12) and “Thomas” (line 17) respectively, but not her. The woman is only referred to as “she” or “her” which further highlights the lack of acknowledgement she receives. The mother is taken for granted by her family and is not regarded as important. Her efforts are ignored and she is never thanked for completing her tasks around the house because that is the role she is “supposed” to fulfill.
In “The Revolt of Mother,” written by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, along with the narrator, we can experience how human beings communicate. Time and setting are the most important definitions of a person’s life. A person cannot change the time he lives in. He lives in the present, the past, or the future. However, his place in location, he is able to choose himself. If a person lives in a city, on a farm, in the mountains, or by the ocean—this can define the nature of his daily activities and even his character. The heroes of this story lived nearly a century ago. They resided on a farm. This was a time when there weren’t a lot of modern accommodations. That’s why Mother and Father had to do everything themselves. Mother raised the children, milked the cow, and cooked the food, which she produced on her own farm. Father also had many responsibilities, such as tending to the animals and farming. They both worked a lot—completed their own given tasks. This separates them from each other, and at the same time, adds to their character.
The mother is a selfish and stubborn woman. Raised a certain way and never falters from it. She neglects help, oppresses education and persuades people to be what she wants or she will cut them out of her life completely. Her own morals out-weight every other family member’s wants and choices. Her influence and discipline brought every member of the family’s future to serious-danger to care to her wants. She is everything a good mother isn’t and is blind with her own morals. Her stubbornness towards change and education caused the families state of desperation. The realization shown through the story is the family would be better off without a mother to anchor them down.
After the war, America was stricken with poverty and many unfortunate families were tormented. The Cunningham family is a typical example of a “Poor” (21). The Cunninghams were so poverty-stricken that Walter continuously came to school without lunch as “He had none today nor tomorrow or the next day” (24). Majority of people in the South treated the Cunninghams with less respect because they’re impoverished. Aunt Alexandra told Scout not to play with Walter. “I'll tell you why,” Aunt Alexandra said "Because- he- is- trash, that's why you can't play with him” (244). Everyone needs somebody to look down to, Aunt Alexandra is trying to lift her own self-esteem up through shaming the Cunninghams. Whereas Calpurnia is a fair women that believes people should be treated equally. When Walter “drowns his food in syrup”(24), Scout decides it’s normal to disrespect Walter because “Hes just a Cunningham”(24). Calpurnia responded to Scouts statement by "Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house's yo' company, and don't you let me catch you remarkin' on their ways like you was so high and mighty!”(25) Calpurnia shows Scout and the readers a significant message that wealth shouldn’t determine how we treat people. Lee is trying to persuade us to act more like Calpurnia’s manner towards rich and
“The Revolt of ‘Mother’” by Mary Wilkins Freeman, was a story of a woman who lived in New England around or before the author’s time. The mother, Sarah Penn, was kept out of the families decisions by the father, Adoniram Penn, until one event that lead to her taking drastic actions while her husband was gone. There are many religious symbols and actions taken by “Mother” within the story. Through the story Sarah moved from a feeling of servitude to her husband, to a feeling that she was in servitude to the Lords will and this led her, in the end, to hold power over her husband.