The 1910s in the Context of 1976
In the 1960s, the American youth was outraged by the Vietnam war, racial injustice, and the confines of respectability. Students joined extreme protests, riots, or changed their lifestyles to protest the system: dropping out of school or living in hippie communes. Besides mostly just older, more traditional generations finding this shift to counterculture in lifestyle wrong, the majority of Americans largely disapproved of the radical and violent activism. Even more progressive figures like Martin Luther King Jr looked down on the political violence in 1966, saying he “would hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating and socially destructive.”
1976’s Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow portrays Mother’s Younger Brother as an adolescent with a lack of true direction. He becomes obsessed with people or causes and changes himself to fit within their community, ironically finding a new passion in each four parts of the novel. In part one, MYB sleeps with Evelyn Nesbit and falls apart when she leaves him, then switches his energy to working with Emma Goldman in part two. When in part three he learns about Coalhouse’s situation, he dresses in blackface and pronounces his complete support for him. In part four, he then eventually meets his death when he goes to fight in the Mexican revolution, acting as a Zapatista during a skirmish in Morelos.
These different adventures are not presented as honorable, though. Doctorow depicts the fickle passions with irony, especially during his time with Coalhouse. When MYB learns about Coalhouse’s experience with the firefighters, Doctorow explains that “There ran through him a small current of rage, perhaps one one-hundredth, he knew, of what Coalhouse Walker must have felt, and it was salutary” (Doctorow, 183). Yet then, when asked why he wants to join his movement, he forgets his speech and splutters “I can make bombs” (243). His passion for Coalhouse’s cause is depicted less as a true passion, even though he clearly feels some empathy for the situation, but as a way to oppose the establishment with violence. Doctorow aims to show how Mother’s Younger Brother, a young white man from the suburbs, would have never had to experience racism or discrimination personally, but wants to find a cause to dedicate his life to. He is able to wipe off blackface at the end of the day and go back to normal, his persona in their group being only his day’s work (296). Doctorow once again tries to stress this argument at the very end of part three, when Father is asked by Whitman the number of people in the library, and when he answers, he subconsciously omits MYB, as he does not view him as truly one with the others (298). The reader is shown that this activism is just a short burst of energy for privileged kids; in the end, they can wipe off the face paint and go back to normal after protesting the establishment with erratic violence.
Still, this explicit criticism of this youth activism was very characteristic of 1970s rhetoric. Americans were exhausted by the excessive violence and portrayed it through caricatures of people like MYB: white middle class adolescents with no true passion, taking on the views of other groups and using violence to solve social issues. E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime portrayal of Mother’s Younger Brother is a direct critique of this 1970s persona, told in the context of 1910.
Contrasting the 1960s' decade of radical and violent activism, the calm of the later 1970s’ led many people to reevaluate the tactics in early protests. Many people began to acknowledge some necessity in violence used in protest, seeing it as the only means to revolt under a violent oppressor. Even Martin Luther King Jr later on stated that while nonviolence is preferred, it might not be an option. As these views shifted back and forth during the 1960s and 1970s, Ragtime experimented with these questions of political violence and its effectiveness, ones that are still very relevant today.
Hi Diza! This blog post is so interesting. I think your reading of MYB as a character is unique, and I think that you have a very interesting interpretation of his relationship with Coalhouse Walker. I agree with you that he is portrayed as blindly clinging on to any leader he can find (Evelyn, then Emma, etc.), but I think it's interesting that you view his dedication to Coalhouse's movement in such a cynical light. You bring up a very interesting point with his ability to physically wipe off his revolutionary persona along with his blackface, but I wonder how that point holds up when you consider that he eventually ended up permanently losing his hearing and dying for a revolutionary cause. Even still, I agree with your point that his revolutionary attitudes seem somewhat arbitrary. This is a very thought-provoking blog and I appreciate how you're connecting Doctorow's narrative with the historical reality during which he was writing the novel.
ReplyDeleteWhile Father may not view MYB as "truly one with the others," we are told by Doctorow's narrator that MYB had become "fully integrated into" the community of Coalhouse--an ironic and maybe satirical use of the word "integrated," as we get an apparent "reverse integration" where the white boy is trying to fit in among the Black racial militants. It's so hard to arrive at a single clear "take" on MYB, though--I truly can't get a definite sense of what Doctorow thinks of this guy. It sure seems, at times, like he's using MYB to sound off on the issue of white participation in radical causes in the 1960s and 70s, and the blackface would seem to make his satirical intentions quite clear. MYB is indeed able to "wipe off" his assumed identity at the end of the ordeal--BUT, ironically (again with the irony!) we realize that this wiping-off ALSO enables him to escape and fight another day. He doesn't "go back" to his safe life: he never returns to New Rochelle again, he never sees his sister again, he never goes back to work at the factory. In a complex kind of way, he keeps the symbolic "blackface" on and shifts the focus to an arguably more consequential and wide-ranging movement, the Mexican Revolution.
ReplyDeleteMYB remains tough to unpack fully, in my view. Stay tuned when we get into _Mumbo Jumbo_--we get a much less sympathetic depiction of a MYB-type figure in that novel, and it seems a bit clearer what Reed thinks of the issue.
Hello Diza, I never put together that MYB was obsessed with something different at something different in each part, nice catch! If we look at MYB through this lens, a lens of not necessarily quickly changing beliefs, but quickly changing priorities, we can see how MYB is used to almost poke fun at the youth at the time. This was a time of heavy activism for all sorts of issues. I could imagine someone older say/joking 'these youth are fighting for so many causes I can't keep up with them all'. Overall good post and great analysis.
ReplyDeleteHey Diza! It is really interesting to think about Ragtime from the context of the 1970s, especially given everything we are learning right now about the counter culture in History through Pop Culture. I didn't really notice the ties between the generational divides and somewhat "delinquent youth" between Mother Younger Brother and the divide in the 70s -- you make some really good points! We are also having the same conversation in Political Theory (great class btw! (I'm sure you know)) about if political violence is necessary. It is really interesting to see all of these connections cross-disciplines. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHI Diza, what a well-researched and contemplative post. I love taking the historical perspective of the 1970s while examining the meta-history of the 1910s. While from the perspective of the time, MYB is an ironic and easy to criticize characters. I found that he was one of the most tragic, as someone who is desperately lost and looking for self expression. He even shows glimpses of brilliance and artistry through his inventions and this "delinquent youth" could have been a revolutionary genius if the society around shaped him down an expressive path.
ReplyDeleteHello Diza!! This was such a fascinating read. I'm usually not the first to make broader historical connections, so this was quite eye-opening to see. I really liked how Doctorow's use of irony really helps emphasize his perspective/critiques, and I feel like his writing style helps further his opinion without being explicit; I tended to share his opinion subconsciously, and it made my feelings stronger since I wasn't being told what to think. Great blog!!
ReplyDeletehi diza! i really enjoyed reading your blog post, it was very well made! I really like how you described MYB's character and how he is more like a living critique of a stereotype from the 1970s. Analyzing protesting is very on brand for you, and I'm not at all surprised that you did a good job tying the topic to Ragtime. Mother's Younger Brother is a very complex character and your portrayal of his struggles and identity.
ReplyDeleteHi Diza! The way that you connected MYB to real historical events and context, while also giving insight into what Doctorow's intentions with his character may have been, makes for a really interesting post! It does make me wonder how genuine Doctorow wrote MYB to be, and if we interpert his character the same way he did and the way audiences did back then. Great post!
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