The American Audience

Throughout Ragtime, Doctorow tells the history of early 20th century America through a handful of characters. Highlighted in my blogpost are the enigmatic Coalhouse Walker; the Jewish immigrant father, Tateh; and the real-life escape artist, Harry Houdini. It is through these characters that Doctorow not only tells an allegorical narrative of the American dream, but also how to achieve it means to be a spectacle for the eyes of America.

Tateh’s story is a clear model of the American Dream. A Jewish immigrant, Tateh suffers through an impoverished life. Tateh leads him and his daughter to a better life. Tateh generates his wealth through the creation of movie books, an innovation that captures the attention of America. In earning the right to show his movies to America, Tateh changes part of himself. He stops being a socialist, he changes how he pronounces his name, he gives himself some made up title of a noble (Doctorow 259). Tateh becomes the ideal successful American immigrant, putting his works on display. Doctorow plays with this idea.

Similar to Tateh’s rise to comfortability and wealth is Doctorow’s depiction of Harry Houdini. Houdini is, by definition, a spectacle. As an immigrant, Houdini’s American Dream takes form through his death-defying escapes and stunts. It is these life risking shows that grant Houdini a celebrity status. Houdini can capture America’s eyes, but he cannot get them to respect him; Houdini’s interactions with his audience shows us this. During Houdini’s escape from the cell in Tombs, he is mocked by his only audience member. His rude flapping of his penis serves to remind Houdini that he is still just a spectacle for the American people (Doctorow 30). The book gives us another example near the end when Houdini is insulted by the man from the twelfth-floor window, this time seemingly to remind readers that Houdini is still not some revered figure like J.P. Morgan or Henry Ford, he is a joke (Doctorow 315). Doctorow almost seems to imply that it is this docility that allows Houdini to make it in America, his tolerance for its blatant disrespect.

Coalhouse Walker Jr. is another character, probably the principal protagonist of Ragtime. Coalhouse breaks the mold in that he longs for something else. It is not money, rather some form of respect and acknowledgement from the American people that Coalhouse wants. In Ragtime, Houdini and Tateh reach their dream, they are granted the wealth and liberty that they desired. For their ability to adapt and endure, they have come to America and been rewarded; Doctorow stops the trope there. Coalhouse Walker is not an immigrant, he is an American negro. The American Dream means something else to him. Where Tateh and Houdini trade some of their identity or pride to achieve success in America, Coalhouse refuses. Coalhouse would not be a sideshow for the American audience. When he takes Morgan Library hostage, he gains the attention of all America, but this time the spectacle is not for their amusement. Coalhouse goes off script to drive a point to America. I cannot say I know what that point is. It is hard to say what Coalhouse’s dream is, perhaps it is justice for his car, perhaps it is the fear and respect of America, perhaps it is that other black Americans might benefit from his actions, perhaps he does not believe in a dream at all. Coalhouse Walker sits in  J.P Morgan’s museum filled with explosives, outside, the streets are lined with police waiting for him to come out as all of America waits to see what will happen. He finds himself in the setup for the greatest escape to ever happen, but Coalhouse Walker is not Houdini.

Ragtime does not tell us if Coalhouse’s actions had any lasting meaning or if they benefitted anybody. Though one may be able to easily choose who they’d rather be, Doctorow does not say who made the right choices. He leaves the moral of the story rather ambiguous, perhaps a nod to his audience, letting them decide.