The Mid-Life Crisis
Something I felt myself witnessing numerous times throughout Ragtime was how many characters seemed to be lost amongst themselves, discontent with their current situation. The inward searching seems to drive much of the book's early plot, at least from the depiction of the story shown to us by Doctorow. It appears to me that, at least in my opinion, a central theme of this book is the mid-life crisis.
The book seems to begin with many characters in a situation of rest. Life is in a happy state for many people, and few seem discontent with their present manner. There are minor foreshadowings, such as the early signs of marital disagreement between Mother and Father. The world has been apparently thrown into turmoil by the killing of Stanford White though, igniting the plotlines to change everyone's lives forever. Evelyn Nesbit is now convinced that she will become richer than ever imagined, as she "had agreed to testify on [Harry K. Thaw's] behalf for the sum of two hundred thousand dollars. And her price for a divorce was going to be even higher" (26). She is in emotional turmoil, and yet she appears to be confident that she is on the right path. This seemed assertiveness seems to crumble however, when she is faced with Tateh and his daughter's situation. She no longer spends all day practicing her court performance as she once did; rather, she chooses to spend the day masquerading as a poor person in the slums. From this, she is able to meet Emma Goldman, who, in a brief meeting, permanently changes Nesbit's thinking of life forever.
Father is steadfast in his belief that his dedication to exploration is his calling in life. Until he actually does it, and it is no longer. He manages to join Robert Peary on his journey to the North Pole but is only able to attend the final juncture in spirit, only lucky enough for supposedly his flag to flap in the background (81). On his return to America, he is disappointed in himself. He had brought believed treasures back home with them, only to on second glance see them as "the embarrassing possessions of a savage" (110). As the family watched him collapse, he realized that "there was nothing he had to tell them" (110). It appears as if he now considers his present life to be a failure, lost amongst his previously precious family. Even his earliest calling in life, his entrepreneurial exploit in his business, seems to have handled itself well in his absence, as Mother had stepped up to run the finances. Upon Coalhouse Walker and his son's arrivals, he feels as if he has become an outsider in his own home. He then spends the remainder of the book pursuing different paths, eventually settling on becoming a 'wartime' negotiator after attempting to rededicate himself to the family lifestyle.
One figure who certainly does not start himself on a way of contentment is Mother's Younger Brother. He clearly believes his reason for life to be Evelyn Nesbit, even framing a drawing of her on his room's wall (5). He stalks her location, believing that it is their inherent destiny to be together. Eventually they meet in a wild event that I don't feel like talking about, but somehow, they both are happy spending time together. One is much happier than the other, but if it works, it works. However, she eventually grows bored of him, and ghosts him to further develop her own character. He immediately becomes depressed, as his reason to live has fled him. For some reason, he chooses to look further into his part-time job at Father's fireworks business and learns everything there is to know about how to blow things up. After a meeting with Emma Goldman, who seems now to be a pivotal character in changing the direction of someone's life, he appears to come to acceptance with Nesbit's departure. However, he has absorbed much of the information he learned in the context of that meeting, and fancies himself a revolutionary. He already sympathized with Coalhouse's situation, as he seemed to enjoy his musical playing and had firsthand viewed much of the tension behind why Coalhouse was displeased with society. After finding Coalhouse, he once more rededicates himself to a cause that seemingly he was entirely disconnected form at the start of the book. After Coalhouse's seemed revolution collapses, Mother's Younger Brother knows that he must, once again, find a new cause to fully dedicate himself to. Rather than find a hobby like a normal person, he decides he must fight in Mexico, dying after roughly a year. Mother's Younger Brother went through many crises in his life, and he always appeared to choose the most random street at any crossroads he may face.
Doctorow appears to love the idea of a character rapidly choosing to change their approach to life on a whim. This 'flexing of power' fits in with many of the ideas he chose to play with in this book, making you question the realism of the situation. This mid-life crisis trope seems to be a favorite of his, as it seems to play out across almost all of the characters in this book, not just the three I chose to look closer at. I found it really interesting how when I first read the book many of the characters' decisions seemed sane as I read it, but after examined from further out did not appear truly so.
The fact that tons of characters have this crisis is also another way to elevate Tateh. This crisis is definitely the most prominent in MYB, with characters like Mother and Father commenting insistently on it. Even JP Morgan is unsatisfied in the end of the book, yet Tateh is able to break out of this as we see in Atlantic City. This mid-life crisis is indiscriminatory of wealth, since even Morgan can have it. Tateh doesn't seem to have a midlife crisis, which kind of sets him apart even more from your average character.
ReplyDeleteThe weirdness in the characters is one of the most intriguing parts of Ragtime in my opinion. I think the times that Younger Brother suddenly devotes himself to seemingly quite stupid things or other characters getting obsessed with poor / disadvantaged people always seems to poke fun of people's lives. I wonder if this is a reflection of Doctorow's general distate for this time period, or perhaps he prefers to write characters that are stupid and laughable.
ReplyDeleteI like this take- I feel like the mid-life crisis storyline is especially apparent in the family. (Mother's Younger Brother, etc.) I think this is really purposeful in the sense that they're technically supposed to be a perfect, serene, upper-middle class white family living in this time period, but when you take a closer look at any of the characters, none of them are really happy at all. I think that setting up characters like this is quite common across many different types of novels- character is unhappy, something happens that catalyzes change, and the rest of the story follows their development. What makes Ragtime especially interesting is the sheer amount of characters and narratives that we are following all within one novel.
ReplyDeleteThis identity crisis you call attention to is such an important theme in this book. Pretty much every character in the novel has a hard time really finding themselves, making impulsive decisions in hopes that they'll somehow break free from their constant unhappiness. Until Coalhouse shows up, the characters and, indeed, the novel itself, have no drive--nothing to break the cycle of normality, which is further underscored by each character's questionable endeavors.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea of an identity struggle as being a driver and/or a product of a character's progress and experiences. In considering these internal "struggles," I wonder to what end these might be a) useful, or b) what they might communicate. To the first, I am reminded of the Grandfather's readings of Ovid, whose writings were known for their themes of change/metamorphosis; I think that, if anything, this reflection of change is concomitant with the progression in time. The ideas and activities of Coalhouse, for example, seem fairly contemporary for their time - the change within MYB, therefore, is a result of this. If there is anything to say about what it might mean for so much internal tumult, perhaps Ragtime becomes a symbol for the postmodern era and its transition from the modernist time period. The novel is set within a solidly modernist time period, being written from the postmodernist perspective; this internal change and worrying about what one truly is, what matters, one's own identity, and so on, might reflect a macroscopic transition of ideas and thought.
ReplyDeleteHey Collins, I really like your interpretation of the mid-life crisis trope in Ragtime. I'm interested in how it can be related to Mother's Younger Brother, though. He seems like a young man at the beginning of the novel, so it seems like more of a "young life crisis" for him. However, later in the novel, when he turns into a Zapatista, he's nearing middle-age. I think there's an argument to be made that when he finds himself (however disengenous it may be) as he reaches middle age, as opposed to vice versa.
ReplyDeleteThie mid-life crisis trope I think is heavily connected to the period. Not only are the characters individually having life altering crisises, but the entire country is getting uprooted by its own underlying issues of race, class, and identity. It's definately taking its toll on characters, but oddly enough MYB kind of finds his purpose within this turmoil as a revolutionary. It definately sets him apart.
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