Mother: A Sample of Change in Society

      When I was reading Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow, I just kept thinking back to one particular character: Mother. She develops more over the course of the novel than almost any other character. The first time we see her, she is a generic white middle class mother. She does not have much of a character at that point, but is instead a representation of what one might typically find in America in 1904. She is, at that point, still very connected to Father's views, which as we see later in the book, are out-dated and slightly ignorant. Father, throughout the book, continues to be a representation of how mainstream views, and, thus, Mother's views, used to be. When Father leaves for the Peary expedition, however, things start to change with Mother. The first major event is when Mother agrees to take in Sarah and Sarah's child. This was a reflexive decision, possibly even rash given the short time it happened in. However, it is the first indication that she has more depth of character and thought than previously indicated.

      When Father returns from the North Pole, he is startled to see Sarah and Sarah's child in the house. He would not have agreed to take them in himself, but Mother had made the decision in his absence. He also is surprised to see that Mother had been reading pamphlets from Emma Goldman, a socialist leader. This is evidence that Mother has begun to think for herself even more. She is developing an individual political conscience, as well as control over the household. Mother and Father's relationship deteriorates somewhat over time, and they seem to disagree on a few things, including their opinions on Coalhouse Walker and his story. These opinion differences are not emphasized, but there are small moments we see them appear, especially when Mother calms down Father when he gets upset about Coalhouse several times. A year after Father's death, Mother marries Tateh, a previously socialist immigrant who has re-made himself as a figure in the film industry. Tateh is in many ways hugely different from Father. He was relatively poor until he recently brought himself up through the system, and he thinks progressively, even ahead of his time. Father, on the other hand, was always middle class, and was stuck in the mindset of ten or twenty years prior. Mother's relationship with each of them is different too, but I won't get into that here.

     In some ways, Mother is a representation of the arc of mainstream thinking in the early 20th century. She originally was stuck in the old ways and did not seem to think much for herself. In the middle, she rebels against that system and tries to find her voice, first by turning to Emma Goldman for guidance. By the end of the novel, Mother has changed and looks progressively to the future, even moving to California to re-start her life. Society as a whole also holds a tale of breaking from ignorant conformity to begin forming new ideas and questioning old ideas. Even the socialist pamphlets have a place, serving as a way of testing new ways of thinking before settling into the new mindset. Mother's development is a small piece of the narrative of society in the 1900s-1910s, as well as the way society continues to cycle and evolve over time. This is supported by Mother's identity-less name as well, which gives the idea of Mother being one in many cases of this same story.