In the beginnings of Ragtime, the readers direct most of their attention to the seemingly stagnant unnamed family and their middle-class life in New Rochelle. In part II of the story, E.L. Doctorow introduces a catalyst-like character that drives the plot of the rest of the book: Coalhouse Walker Jr.
The family’s complacency and preexisting ideals are challenged with the introduction of Coalhouse. All of the character’s lives are fundamentally changed (or ended) after this situation. They either find a new purpose or path in life. Ragtime has been interested in the prospect of change since the beginning of the novel. From Harry Houdini’s mid-life crisis and desire to reinvent himself to Mother’s Younger Brother’s newfound position as a revolutionary, the novel is focused on the changes in society at the turn of the twentieth century.
Coalhouse’s interactions with various characters, in particular Father, reveal more about them than Coalhouse himself. His mere existence is a provocation for his white counterparts, subverting their expectations of him, as shown by Father: “Walker didn’t act or talk like a colored man. He seemed to be able to transform the customary differences practiced by his race so that they reflected to his own dignity rather than the recipient’s…Father recognized certain dangers in the man. Perhaps we shouldn’t encourage his suit, he said to Mother” (Doctorow 162). Just like with ragtime music, his mere existence is one that threatens white people. Coalhouse is a character that is significant beyond his own narrative but to the fact that he reveals so much about the characters around him.
His character is treated with less irony than others, such as Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan, and Doctorow seems to almost humanize him more. The readers are introduced to him during his courtship with Sarah, revealing his good and friendly nature. Doctorow allows us to interpret his character by providing his basis for him. We feel more sympathy for him since we see him as a person and we understand the racial injustices of the time. He frames him in two different lights: a more humane picture in the narrative versus a deranged terrorist from the media.
As Coalhouse spirals with his acts of violence, he begins to become an autonomous character—one that seemingly becomes more historical. Ragtime is a story about racial injustice. One could argue that Coalhouse becomes less of a character and more of a symbol. He becomes a symbol of fighting back and represents a larger cause and movement, as seen in how his group is literally called “Coalhouse.” Within the story, Doctorow often uses free indirect discourse with multiple characters to express their thoughts and what they are thinking. However, there is almost none of that with Coalhouse. Rather, Doctorow maintains a purposeful distance from him—whether it be out of respect or to further the illusion of him being historical—he never goes inside Coalhouse’s mind. Doctorow does not try and speak on behalf of him, he merely recounts a narrative and describes his actions. This omission of information and distance from a character is a tactic that has been frequently employed by Doctorow to make the characters seem more historical. It further pushes the idea that Coalhouse's character is used to represent a larger issue of racial injustice at the time.
The novel revolves around Coalhouse: he changes the pace of the story, the story continues to morph with the introduction, and the characters are all spurred by his actions. He embodies the notion of change in Ragtime.
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Hi Khuyen! I really like this blog post with how concise and insightful your analysis of Coalhouse is. I'm especially a fan of your description of the story's nameless family as stagnant. There's so much that happens *around* them before Coalhouse arrives, but very little actually happens *to* them that pushes a major change. For example there's Father, who's on this seemingly life-changing, revolutionary expedition, but then it's almost comical how it feels like everything's preventing him from achieving progression, and not regression. I as well find it interesting how he's written with no irony or any inner-thoughts compared to other characters, to draw our attention more toward the racial discrimination factor, and allow the reader to fill in those gaps
ReplyDeletep.s i was not expecting the big time rush song when clicking on the puppy lmao
DeleteNice post. I hadn't thought about the narrator's distance between Coalhouse as representative of his larger-than-life nature, but I think you make an excellent point. It's definitely fair to say that Coalhouse is treated with less irony than other characters by the narrator, but other characters still don't take him very seriously (see Father's interaction with him in the parlor). Thus, I think the narrator's treatment of Coalhouse serves to farther juxtapose what he stands for with how he is treated.
ReplyDeleteNice post, Khuyen. Coalhouse definitely does emerge as a catalyst, disrupting the status quo of the family and society's norms. Doctorow's portrayal of Coalhouse as a symbol of resistance against racial injustice is pretty striking, and the deliberate narrative distance from Coalhouse's inner thoughts underscores his significance. By refraining from entering his mind like he does the unnamed characters, Doctorow makes Coalhouse seem like a real historical figure.
ReplyDeleteThis is a little unrelated to your post but I think it is interesting that you mention Ragtime being a novel obsessed with the prospect of change because on pages 118-119 during the chapter focusing on The Little Boy he talks about his interest in change "It was evident to him that the world composed and recomposed itself constantly in an endless process of dissatisfaction" (118) "But the boys eyes saw only the tracks made by the skaters, traces quickly erased of moments past, journey taken." (119) Since one could argue that the book is told in the boys perspective (maybe from the future or something) the main theme of Ragtime being that it tells a story of changes people and society went through during the early 1900s makes a lot of sense due to the fact the boy is also enamored by the idea of change. ( this was a mess of ideas lol, I hope you understand what im getting at) Great post!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely!! I initially planned on writing about Ragtime and the prospect of change in the novel, especially with the family. Obviously, every character in that family experiences some sort of change (although, Father's position could be argued). It's also stuck out to me how the Little Boy is so interested in change and things that are "discarded." A lot of the characters sort of go through the process of reinventing oneselves, so change is a pretty prominent thread that weaves its way throughout the novel, and it makes sense given the historical context of the book! I never really thought of Ragtime being told from the Little Boy's perspective but that's a really interesting argument!! (also don't worry my thoughts are always messy as well, I do get what you mean)
DeleteIt is very interesting to me how Coalhouse just becomes the main character halfway thorough the book. You make great points in this blog about how its understanding the family before then reveals more about them, and in turn society at the time, when they interact with Coalhouse. I think also Doctorow's deliberate distance from Coalhouse's inner thoughts contributes to the character's symbolic representation. Overall, It was very insightful reading this post!
ReplyDeletehi khuyen! i first wanted to say that i thoroughly enjoy your blog it is very fun and i like pink. but anyway, this is really interesting and i didn't at all realize the level of importance in coalhouse walker's character. like, i remember mr. mitchell saying that he drove the plot, so i knew that, but i didn't realize the scale to which that is true––changing the lives of pretty much every single character in the novel. i was also very interested by your saying that ragtime is a story about racial justice. i think that with all of the conflicting plotlines, the general theme can be a bit muddy and hard to see, but i do agree that that's what the book is about though i hadn't previously thought about it that way. i know i haven't brought anything new to the conversation here, but this post has brought up lots of interesting ideas that i am thinking about and had not thought about before and i do think that your ideas about the book, its themes, and CHW, are very intriguing.
ReplyDeleteI like how you say that Coalhouse Walker changes the pace of Ragtime. It's pretty evident in the first part of the novel that Doctorow is in no hurry to reach the plot's climax, but once Walker is introduced, there seems to be a shift. All of Ragtime's crucial moments are mushed into around 100 pages, where all the characters are rapidly changing their perspective and how the reader thinks of them (e.g. Walker's presence makes us lose more respect for Father, and gain a different perspective of MYB).
ReplyDeleteYou talking about how Doctorow avoided showing Coalhouse's inner thoughts intrigued me, and it reminded me about how we said he got away from Doctorow's control. It's like he's more of a force than a human. A force that brings attention to the racial inequality that was always there, but fell under the radar for the fictional family. I agree that he represents change and confronts the fictional family with the socioeconomics issues that would become more pressing in the early 1900s.
ReplyDelete[This comment was somehow deleted sometime over the last week, so I'll repost it here and hope it sticks:] I agree that Coalhouse is a "catalyst" in many ways in this novel, but especially in the ways that he forces various crises in the Family. Among other things, it seems like Mother's increasing frustration with and distance from Father is related to his uncharitable response to Coalhouse (and his baby and fiancee) entering the picture (and his home). Of all of them, I would propose that MYB, for all of our inclinations to laugh at him, is the one who "benefits" most from this intrusion into his world: he does seem to "find himself" (with some layers of irony, of course) when he connects to Coalhouse, and I'm pretty sure Doctorow isn't being *completely* ironic when he states that "the effect was salutory".
ReplyDeleteYou make several great points!! The way you talk about Coalhouse's lack of inner monologue in the book is especially interesting. You mention how Doctorow almost sits back and lets his actions speak for himself, and I agree. I would even take it a step farther and say Doctorow has almost allowed coalhouse to become a second author. Obviously he's not able to change the lives of Characters such as Houdini, who have almost no connection to the imaginary story, but he moves about his world more freely than any other character. We don't know his next move and we don't know what he's thinking. He realizes his actions will effect those around him and inevitably that's what convinces him to stop the bombing and turn himself in. It's really interesting how He's able to live almost untouched by the reader. Great post!!!
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