Opportunity and Social Mobility in Ragtime

1. Opportunity and Social Mobility in Ragtime Sean G and Nevin W

2. Basics • The characters in this Ragtime culture that Doctorow describes have a great deal of opportunity and possible mobility within the social hierarchy. • Within the novel, there are examples both of people who broke social and racial barriers and appeared to create an impossible “American dream;” on the other hand, however, there are those who failed and did not become successful. • It is clear that while almost everyone in this culture has an opportunity to succeed, there is also an equal opportunity for failure. • It seems that there are some criteria that is needed by a person in this culture for them to become successful, and these are, among others: • Skillful at a trade • Risk-taking • Thrifty And of course, some luck is involved as well.

3. Father • Father is an example of a man who rose to a high social status • Able to provide for his family • Chapter 1 - Shows wealth in lifestyle • Chapter 29 - How he became wealthy - Fight with mother to use his money

4. Coalhouse Walker • Even during the era of Ragtime, people in the black community could be successful • He could be trying to present himself as a white man knowing he could be successful this way • Chapter 21 • Presents himself like a wealthy gentleman • Puts his money towards his appearance

5. Tateh • Tateh is a prime example of someone who rose to the middle class from practically nothing. He was first introduced to the story as a socialist immigrant. On page 15, Doctorow makes clear the Americans’ views of immigrants: he says, “they were filthy and illiterate… They had no honor… They stole. They drank.” • On page 42, a little more is revealed about him, and the reader learns that he is selling silhouette artwork for fifteen cents apiece. He hardly has enough money to get by and afford food for he and his daughter. • It is at this point that Evelyn Nesbit becomes infatuated with Tateh’s daughter. She comes to them daily and pays for hundreds of portraits of her to be done in order to talk to the two. • Eventually Tateh goes to Lawrence, Massachusetts and works there for a short time. Then during a workers’ strike he tries to send his daughter away to Philadelphia, but after a scuffle with the police he ends up going to Philadelphia with his daughter: • (p. 127) “Tateh lifted his daughter bodily and swung her up on the platform of the nearest car, out of harm’s way. Then he turned his attention to the fallen woman… as he was sitting her down he came to the attention of one of the policemen. • It is here that he finds success; he sells his artwork to the Franklin Novelty Company. He makes flipbooks, and is paid $25 per book.

6. Questions • Why did the police want to prevent Tateh and others from sending their children away? • What do you think was the significance of Evelyn Nesbit’s infatuation with Tateh’s daughter?

7. Mother’s Younger Brother • Mother’s Younger Brother is an example of someone who did not become successful. He lived with Mother and Father and worked at the fireworks company with Father. He had much more opportunity to become successful than the average person in the story would, since Father had moderate wealth and could have lent him money. However, by the end of the story he died penniless in Mexico. • It was on p. 165 where he finally seemed to be finding some type of success. The novel says that he “made friends of some ordinance officers… they complained about the Springfield rifle… they showed him their small arms and their grenade bombs. He knew immediately that he could design better weapons.” However, then Doctorow goes on to say that he tended to spend lots of money in Broadway drinking and going to shows, and that he cannot support this kind of lifestyle. • He seemed not to have much of an identity in the story until he latched himself onto Coalhouse Walker’s group. At one point in the story it is said that he admires Coalhouse. He made an effort to see Coalhouse, going night after night to the Manhattan Casino, waiting to be able to talk to Coalhouse. The scene is described on page 241: • “…every evening thereafter the young man stood at the Casino enduring the stares of the black patrons and timing the intervals between trains of the Eighth Avenue El that periodically rumbled past the building.”

8. Questions • Why did Mother’s Younger Brother want to join Coalhouse? • Why did he have so much trouble finding an identity?