Theme Of Imprisonment In Ragtime

Eric Dade
Mr. Crema
ENGL 101
Final Paper
05/05/16

Physical and Emotional Imprisonment

                In Ragtime, there are numerous actions, thoughts, and dialogue among characters which point to a larger theme as the story progresses. Over the course of the book, E.L. Doctorow demonstrates a common theme - the struggle of imprisonment vs. self-liberation. Doctorow brings out this theme through a few different characters in his novel. Imprisonment does not necessarily mean a jail term, but rather in this case, mental, emotional, philosophical, economic, or political struggle a character is going through at any point in the story. Self-liberation, on the other hand, is the attempt to mentally and psychologically abandon oneself from

their status quo, norm, or stimuli that they’re very much used to. This is very important, as during the Roaring Twenties, there was a large amount of political turmoil. At this time, the country was in a period of social change - America was finally getting its identity during its Industrial Revolution. This forced common citizens to either conform to popular beliefs, values, and characteristics, or to deviate from their own norms. This story brings out each situation of each character who is in this type of social phenomenon.
            One character who demonstrates the struggle between imprisonment and self-liberation is Harry Houdini.

Throughout the story, Harry constantly amazes crowds with his ability to escape from enclosed areas. In this case, Harry demonstrates two kinds of imprisonment: physical imprisonment and emotional imprisonment. He demonstrates physical imprisonment as he attempts to set himself free from the enclosed areas. However, his emotional imprisonment occurs when Harry is alone and pondering his unique career, which gives him much stress, as we often get in-depth looks into Harry’s thoughts from the narrator. For example, after one of Harry’s infamous stunts, he reads the newspaper. As we go inside the mind of Harry, “He had never known such feelings of dissatisfaction. He wondered why he had devoted his life to mindless entertainment” (Doctorow 101). This interpersonal thought shows that Harry has at least a fragment of doubt in regards to the life he’s living, as it seems as if he’s not satisfied with the lifestyle he chose. This time, along with many others, he more or less questions his purpose in life. On top of that, Harry is going through a tough time with his mother recently passing away. Ultimately, these reasons make it hard for Harry to will himself to do these amazing escapes, making Harry emotionally imprisoned, as often times he does not develop a sense of gratification from his achievements. As explained in this book, this is mainly due to the depression he experiences after his mother’s death. In specific, near the middle of the story, Harry is in the middle of performing a crazy stunt - one in which he had to break free from a locked, steel box filled with water. In context, this describes the atmosphere of his crowds and describes how his escapes affected him emotionally after his mother’s death. “People shouted from the audience. Women closed their eyes and put their hands over their ears. They begged his assistants to stop him. He was helped

out shaking and covered in sweat. Every feat enacted Houdini’s desire for his dead mother. He was buried and reborn, buried and reborn” (Doctorow 204). As Houdini is seemingly performing a casual stunt, the crowd  is witnessing something they hadn't originally expected, as they “put their hands over their ears.” Because Houdini is “covered in sweat,” we can infer that not only is this stunt physically demanding, but his inner demons are challenging him, making his routine stunts much more difficult. Houdini feels emotionally imprisoned during his stunts, as all of his stunts were in “desire for his dead mother.” Harry is stuck between imprisonment and self-liberation: he feels feels physically imprisoned by the coffin he must break free from, as well as emotionally weighed down by his mother’s death, making his stunts much more difficult for him to perform. Harry eventually seeks physical liberation, symbolically, by from breaking free from the each and every medium, and seeks emotional liberation by doing the stunts themselves, motivated by his mother’s death. Eventually, Harry overcomes this self-imprisonment and is able to cope with his mother’s death after continually performing stunts. Harry feels much more comfortable during his shows, and becomes emotionally liberated by the books end, as he falls in love with flying planes. Flying takes his mind off of his mother and emotionally self-liberates him. This is significant because at this time in history, it was hard for magicians and entertainers to self-liberate. Quitting what he loved to do and exploring the rest of the world would have been quite frowned upon. However, through all the mental anguish and suffering, Houdini was able to bring himself back to his feet, regardless of what his audience thought of him.
            Another character who struggled with imprisonment is Tateh. Tateh, a European immigrant, had many hardships early on in his life: his wife mysteriously passed away before the book started, he couldn't find steady, safe work, which meant that he couldn't treat his daughter like the princess he wants to. At the beginning of Tateh’s story, we learn that him and his daughter lived penny to penny with no direction in life. Throughout the book, Taheh feels as if he is in prison when he is living in New York: He works long hours in the textile mill for very little pay under absolutely horrible conditions. One night, the narrator explains a depressing situation between Tateh and his daughter: “Tateh held her and wept to feel her frail body, her soft lips on her face. What if the truth was that he could do nothing more for her than make pictures? What if they just went on this way of varying degrees of unrealized hope? She would grow up and curse his name” (123). Going into the mind of Tateh, the author shows us how much he cares for his daughter, and how badly he wants better for her. He wants his daughter to liberate from the world they're currently living in. Tateh, being extremely self-conscious towards his daughter, is worried that she’ll “curse his name” if they don't escape, or liberate themselves from this horrid lifestyle, or imprisonment. This shows that Tateh is constantly motivated to escape because of his love and care he has for his daughter, as he sits and admires her “frail body” and “soft lips.” After much time deciding whether he should either liberate himself or remain imprisoned in his current lifestyle, he decides to literally flee from his home and ‘escape’ altogether to Lawrence, Philadelphia, as a way to physically and emotionally liberate him and his daughter from the life they know. By the story’s end, we are told that Tateh and his daughter are living a successful, happy life together on a beach, and that Tateh is happily married to Mother. Tateh’s progression in life shows how the choice to liberate himself from hardships ended up changing his life completely, and for the better.
            The last character who is seemingly imprisoned is Mother’s Brother. Mother’s Brother is an odd character in the book - he seems as if he doesn't entirely hold the same values as the rest of his family members. He is shown to be more of a deviant to his family’s norms, notably, radicalism and violence. This is quite contrary to his family’s beliefs - most contrary to Father, specifically - who Doctorow portrayed as the stereotypical, traditional American, filled with conservative pride. As a result of this, Mother’s Brother felt, in a sense, mentally trapped. There were many instances where he respectfully disagreed during a conversation his family was having. That being said, at home, he wasn't ever able to act like himself under the roof of his mother and father, because of his deviant outlook and behavior. This built up quite a bit of anger and aggression, to be let out later in the book once he decides to leave his home altogether and join numerous revolutionary groups in Mexico. In the story, he often wondered around town, lurking, searching for the admired Evelyn Nesbit, and simply venturing off on his own terms. This gives us some insight as he attempted to search for his true self somewhere away from home. Eventually, Mother’s Brother left home and hadn’t returned for quite awhile, which was mainly because he wasn’t fond of the way Father treated Coalhouse Walker during one of their conversations. Eventually, an extreme decision was made by Mother’s Brother. He decided to join Coalhouse’s gang in rebellious fashion, liberating himself from the life he was living under the rule of his father and mother, turning into a violent, rebellious young man, who made explosives for Coalhouse’s gang. Later in the story, when Father was held hostage in J.P. Morgan’s library, there was a short exchange between Mother’s Brother to Father. “You are a complacent man with no thought of history. You pay your employees poorly and are insensitive to their needs. The fact that you think of yourself as a gentleman in all your dealings, is the simple self-delusion of all those who press humanity…. Goodbye. You won’t see me again” (297-298). This quote by Mother’s Brother shows how much he disagrees with Father’s actions, calling him “complacent,” which most likely means greedy, spoiled, and self-centered, or in general terms, apathetic. “Self-delusion of all of those who press humanity,” shows how Mother’s Brother feels that Father oppresses most of humanity, specifically Coalhouse and other minorities, who don't deserve that treatment.  This explains his self-liberation from the uncomfortable, stereotypically friendly, conservative lifestyle he had been living alongside mother and father, and the reason behind his motivation to become an extremist, defending African Americans and siding with their violent ways. 
Another character who seemed emotionally distraught throughout the novel was Coalhouse. Coalhouse Walker Jr. was a well-off, well-educated black man. And during this time, this was not only unique, but it was quite surprising to be around, as Father was so surprised, his surprisement turned into skepticism. At one point in the story, Father describes Coalhouse as “A man who doesn't act or talk like a colored man” (116). Nonetheless, Mother and Father welcomed him into the house, as he seemed like nothing but a gentleman. However, as a series of unfortunate happenings occurred in Coalhouses life: His model-T car was demolished. His fiancé was murdered. As more and more anger stockpiled within Coalhouse, the more desperate he was to liberate himself from his frustration deep inside. Eventually,
            All in all, it is evident that Harry Houdini, Tateh, and Mother’s Brother all shared the struggle of self-imprisonment vs. self-liberation. During this time period of social and emotional change in America, many people struggled to come to terms with their true identity. However, this book does a fantastic job of going into the minds of completely different characters. E.L. Doctorow introduces each character’s unique perspective and life outlook: Tateh, a European Immigrant, is stuck in financial imprisonment with his daughter, and physical imprisonment at work. Mother’s Brother, living with a wealthy family, feels mentally imprisoned under the viewpoints of his father. Harry Houdini feels emotionally and physically imprisoned as he performs his escapes, constantly reminding him of his mother’s passing. While all the characters share the commonality of feeling imprisoned in some way, each character eventually finds a way to self-liberate themselves from their internal and/or external hardships, making their lives better forever.