Ragtime: Weaving Reality & Fiction
Ragtime: Weaving Reality & Fiction
Ragtime shows an incredible mix of real life and fiction, giving readers a unique look into how they could interact. Many of the main plot points involve characters and events that are real being woven into the lives of fictional characters. By analyzing the book with the knowledge of what is real and what is fake, readers gain an interesting perspective on how much our trust in the narrator shapes our understanding of reality in historical fiction. Doctorow uses this trust to weave intricate storylines that fudge the details of history based solely on coincidences.
One of the important examples of the meshing of reality and fiction is seen in the main plot revolving around Coalhouse Walker. The plot of the story centers around his need for revenge against the fire chief who demolished his car as a joke. After his fiancé dies trying to get justice for him, he burns down the fire station in anger and forms a group of followers to continue his destruction. As the police are trying to find him, a fictional character, some of the police officers in the book bring up a real law that was put in place, saying it would be easier to catch him if license plates were required (Doctorow 221). This law is put in place to catch Coalhouse in the book, however this can't be the reason in real life because he is a fictional character (Doctorow 222). Still, the dates match the timeline of when this law was actually put in place in real life, leading readers to believe Coalhouse is a mysterious, but real, person rather than a fictional character.
Additionally, as they are trying to find the person who did these crimes, they suspect it is Emma Goldman. She is an activist who sometimes resorts to violent means to get her point across, which places her high on any suspect list. Because of this, she is arrested by the police and questioned about any involvement in the destruction. In true Emma Goldman fashion, she voices support for Coalhouse in his quest for revenge and sadness for the firefighters who died (Doctorow 276-277). This plotpoint is skipped over pretty quickly, and I think it’s only included to tie up loose strings, however it adds another realistic layer to the story. The real anarchist activist in the book is suspected of being involved in Coalhouse’s revenge, and has exactly the stance we expect from her as readers, again making this story seem so plausible in history. Because of Goldman’s interesting stance on social issues, it makes sense that she would be put in jail for suspected involvement in the arson and it makes sense that she is very supportive of Coalhouse. Doctorrow takes advantage of this, again framing Coalhouse as the big perpetrator of her arrest, as if he’s a bigger historical figure than her.
Doctorrow carefully weaves reality into fiction in a way that places his characters at the center of historical events. Even his depictions of Coalhouse make us feel as if he was this mysterious, real life person that we couldn't find out much about, but who also definitely exists. He mentions how you can’t find much on record about him from the places he’s lived and how people often made up stories about him (Doctorow 183). Doctorow actually makes less assumptions about Coalhouse than he does about real historical figures like JP Morgan, making Coalhouse seem more real than them. Doctorrow takes advantage of his power as the narrator, pulling strings to mess with our perception of reality. In doing so, his book has a greater historical relevance and draws audiences into its confusion.
Work Cited
Doctorow, E. L. Ragtime. Random House, 2007.
Hi Praachi, I was definitely impressed by how well Doctorow was able to relate his fictional plot points to actual historical moments. He expertly used moments when people weren't actually sure what happened to assert his fictional points into the plot. Some things that I remember include Evelyn Nesbit visiting Tateh when the reporters thought she was going around with other men and Houdini seeing Harry K. Thaw as he was performing an escapade and how he wrote it down in a journal that no one ever saw.
ReplyDeleteThis is a thoughtful analysis of how the novel blends history and fiction to shape the perception of readers with reality. The way you used Coalhouse Walker and Emma Goldman as examples to show how Doctorow blurs the line between what's real and imagine was contemplative; leaving us with things to reflect on. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI always like to remind people that Doctorow's illusion of Coalhouse as "historical"--with limited information about his earlier years available through "research" or public records--is itself a historically accurate reflection of issues that have plagued African American history and genealogy for generations. It's pretty common for a historically significant Black cultural figure (like Scott Joplin, for example) to have a childhood that is clouded in mystery--because cities often didn't keep public records for Black communities with any degree of accuracy and reliability, and it wouldn't have been unusual for the press to have trouble tracking down photos or other public-records details about young Coalhouse (whatever name he would have gone by at the time). So in a paradoxical way, we "trust" the author (as you put it) when he throws up his hands in frustration and "admits" that there are limitations on how much he can know about Coalhouse Walker Jr. He seems MORE real, historically, precisely because of the "gaps" in the record.
ReplyDeletePraachi, I love this topic! It's super interesting to me how Doctorow does manipulate our "trust" in him as a reliable narrator. I think his omniscience with how he gets into the heads of the characters (with the exception of Colehouse Walker, of course) makes the reader inclined to trust Doctorow, when really his opinion is woven into the depiction of every scene. Good work!
ReplyDeleteHi Praachi! This was such a good breakdown. I really agree in that the lack of knowledge around Coalhouse aids in making him feel more real. Doctorow's hesitation to definitively comment on who he is makes it feel like he doesn't want to mischaracterize Coalhouse, and that hesitation is something seen a lot in biographies and such. It's so cool how he used real events (such as the license plate thing you wrote about) to help immerse Coalhouse into the novel. Great blog!!
ReplyDeleteHi Praachi! I really enjoyed reading this blog post, and I like how you describe Doctorow's role in crafting the plot, and how he uses that control to his advantage to create a story that weaves together reality and fiction. I really enjoyed this aspect of Ragtime, and I consistently found myself very impressed by Doctorow's attention to historical detail. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Praachi! You talk about the aspect of Ragtime that I think makes the book so captivating. We are able to see historical events throughout the 1910s in the U.S. all conglomerated to affect the same ~10 people, letting us experience the decade from the perspectives of a variety of Americans. The historical figures turn into less realistic archetypes while the fictional characters, as you are describing, are made historical. I think it is perfect that the characters all represent a part of American 1910s society, whether they directly impacted it as a real figure or were one of the lesser known members of society. Great post!! :)
ReplyDeletehi praachi!! I really liked how you broke down the different scenes of charcaters being put into a non-fiction "space" (im not sure how else to describe it). This book is so unique in that its structure blends the lines between fiction and fact, and coalhouse is a great example of this. Your analyzation of complex characters was phenomenal. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteHi Praachi!!! Great Post!! I completely agree with you that Doctorow adds fictional parts into Historical characters' lives based on what's going on in the story. Even though this can be shown with several characters, I love how you only focused on Coalhouse. Doctorow integrates History and Fiction a lot with his character, and I think you analyzed it very well. Good Job!!!!
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