Imprisonment
In Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, we see a theme of imprisonment in many of the main characters. Both directly and indirectly, most characters in the novel feel as if they are caught somewhere. Through their experiences before the beginning of Ragtime and even through some of the actions in the book, they find themselves in difficult situations which end up being very hard to get out of.
Tateh exhibits a sense of being imprisoned. He is stuck in a cycle of poverty, which he attempts to escape by selling his paper silhouettes. Because of his immigrant status and devotion to protecting his daughter, he can't escape this cycle of poverty, rendering him imprisoned. Even when Tateh and his daughter leave the slums in New York and move to Massachusetts, they are still stuck in poverty. Working at the factory, "Tateh stood in front of a loom for fifty-six hours a week. His pay was just under six dollars" (Doctorow 120). Though he makes a radical move, completely leaving life in New York behind, he is still stuck in an endless cycle of poverty which only somewhat eases up when he sells his "movie books" to the Franklin Novelty Company.
Another example of a trapped character is Evelyn Nesbit. The terms of her imprisonment also date back to events before the book's beginning. Both her relationships with Harry K. Thaw and Stanford White have given her a notorious reputation which leaves her with not too many options. She is recognized wherever she goes and she has to go to great lengths to leave her actions out of the press. For her, the escape from her "imprisonment" comes from visiting the little girl and Tateh every day. Even though her intentions for helping them were good, she intrudes into their lives and does things that leave Tateh feeling uncomfortable with Evelyn's position with his daughter. When Tateh and the little girl leave New York, Evelyn returns to her feeling of imprisonment, which she tries to counter with having an affair with Mother's Younger Brother. This affair also doesn't provide the relief from her life she was looking for, so she dumps him.
Harry Houdini is also another example of a character imprisoned in some sense in life. On the one hand, he shows very literal examples of being imprisoned when performing his escape routines, especially the one when he gets locked up in the high-security cells at the New York Tombs. His escape there was heralded as the hardest he's ever done, and his encounter with Harry K. Thaw there makes it all the more surreal. Houdini is also stuck in other aspects of his life, such as his profession. Even though he is famous and has gained quite a name for himself, he does not earn the money and appreciation that he wishes would come from his job. He is stuck in a cycle of not being respected, as even when he accepts a job from Mrs. Fish to perform at her party, she lumps him together with a group of circus "freaks", which greatly upsets him. He doesn't really see a way to gain more appreciation from the New York elite, which keeps him in this cycle.
Even though the book begins with most of its main characters "imprisoned" in some way, some people, like Tateh, find ways out of the situations that were keeping them prisoner. It will be interesting to see what becomes of other character's stories and how/if they escape their "prisons" later on in Ragtime.
Tateh exhibits a sense of being imprisoned. He is stuck in a cycle of poverty, which he attempts to escape by selling his paper silhouettes. Because of his immigrant status and devotion to protecting his daughter, he can't escape this cycle of poverty, rendering him imprisoned. Even when Tateh and his daughter leave the slums in New York and move to Massachusetts, they are still stuck in poverty. Working at the factory, "Tateh stood in front of a loom for fifty-six hours a week. His pay was just under six dollars" (Doctorow 120). Though he makes a radical move, completely leaving life in New York behind, he is still stuck in an endless cycle of poverty which only somewhat eases up when he sells his "movie books" to the Franklin Novelty Company.
Another example of a trapped character is Evelyn Nesbit. The terms of her imprisonment also date back to events before the book's beginning. Both her relationships with Harry K. Thaw and Stanford White have given her a notorious reputation which leaves her with not too many options. She is recognized wherever she goes and she has to go to great lengths to leave her actions out of the press. For her, the escape from her "imprisonment" comes from visiting the little girl and Tateh every day. Even though her intentions for helping them were good, she intrudes into their lives and does things that leave Tateh feeling uncomfortable with Evelyn's position with his daughter. When Tateh and the little girl leave New York, Evelyn returns to her feeling of imprisonment, which she tries to counter with having an affair with Mother's Younger Brother. This affair also doesn't provide the relief from her life she was looking for, so she dumps him.
Harry Houdini is also another example of a character imprisoned in some sense in life. On the one hand, he shows very literal examples of being imprisoned when performing his escape routines, especially the one when he gets locked up in the high-security cells at the New York Tombs. His escape there was heralded as the hardest he's ever done, and his encounter with Harry K. Thaw there makes it all the more surreal. Houdini is also stuck in other aspects of his life, such as his profession. Even though he is famous and has gained quite a name for himself, he does not earn the money and appreciation that he wishes would come from his job. He is stuck in a cycle of not being respected, as even when he accepts a job from Mrs. Fish to perform at her party, she lumps him together with a group of circus "freaks", which greatly upsets him. He doesn't really see a way to gain more appreciation from the New York elite, which keeps him in this cycle.
Even though the book begins with most of its main characters "imprisoned" in some way, some people, like Tateh, find ways out of the situations that were keeping them prisoner. It will be interesting to see what becomes of other character's stories and how/if they escape their "prisons" later on in Ragtime.
This is a really interesting post! I like the comparisons you were able to draw between the characters, even with their very different backgrounds. Another character I think of as being imprisoned is Morgan. Although he leads an extremely privileged life and is able to travel all around the world he is isolated at the top of the business world and finds no way out of this solitude, because he "has no peers".
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, it seems like almost every character is somehow imprisoned, if not just by the society that surrounds him. Coalhouse is trapped by the prison of racism, Father by the prison of his experiences (or lack therefore), or Morgan by the prison of money, like Kat said. It reminds me of the discussions in 20th Century Novels about how both Antoinette and Rochester are trapped in societies expectations of them and how neither can escape. It seems to be a pattern in novels where the characters are deeply ingrained in the societies they live in and cannot escape.
ReplyDeleteNice post! To add on, Mother and Father's imprisonments seem to depend on each other. Mother seems imprisoned by Father in the beginning of the novel, but she frees herself when he leaves through Goldman's ideas. When he comes back, he feels imprisoned. They seem to be the cause of each other's imprisonment, making it virtually impossible for both to be free.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see the theme of confinement in this book, and I definitely agree with the idea that they are all stuck in their position in society, as well as within their own social structures, like how Ayah mentioned Mother and Father being mutually imprisoned. To continue with the imprisonment of Harry Houdini, I'd say that within the circus scene for Mrs. Fish, all mentioned circus performers feel imprisoned to both their jobs and the elitist perspective that they have to live under in order to make money and live their lives. It's painful to read, and I bet even more painful to live through, so it is very easy to find sympathy with not only them, but with all characters throughout this book.
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