A topic that I find quite interesting in relation to Doctorow’s Ragtime is the idea of coming back to life. Not reincarnation, becoming a new person, but resurrection, dying, or partially dying, and then coming back to life. During my panel presentation on Ragtime, I briefly discussed human resurrection and reincarnation, but for now, I would like to focus on human resurrection.
Considering it is Doctorow, it is important to consider that I am not referring to any sort of magical resurrection. Though Doctorow may play with the lines of historical “fact” in Ragtime, to my knowledge he does not attempt to include anything that may have been, or may still be, impossible. Rather, the examples of human resurrection are mostly metaphorical.
The earliest example of metaphorical resurrection is described by the Little Boy on page eight of the novel. The Little Boy describes an occasion where Houdini was “buried alive in a grave and could not escape, and had to be rescued” (7-8). The mere act of being trapped in a coffin and then released is an act of metaphorical resurrection and irony. The only people who go into coffins are dead people (or, I suppose, living people who are buried alive), so the implication is that Houdini goes into the coffin, is in the coffin momentarily metaphorically “dead,” and then is brought out, having been resurrected and returned to life.
A similar act of resurrection happens to Sarah’s child, later named Coalhouse Walker the third. As the Little Boy once more describes, “Mother had dug something up. . . it was an infant” (68-69). Sarah’s child is buried alive (by Sarah herself) and then experiences the same metaphorical death and resurrection as Houdini previously.
The author of my panel presentation article suggested that Sarah’s child also experiences another resurrection: when his mother figure is changed from Sarah to Mother. I would like to further this suggest that Sarah’s child experiences three resurrections: first, when he is pulled from the ground, second, when he switches from being cared for by Sarah to the housekeeper, and third, at the end of the book when טאטע (and the rest of the family) acknowledge the toddler as a part of their dysfunctional (and now mixed race) family.
If you consider the repetition of Houdini and Sarah’s child’s resurrections, one could suggest that Houdini’s described resurrection was merely a foreshadowing of Sarah’s child, and while the Little Boy may be the narrator of the novel, Sarah’s child is what moves it along.
Think about it: the birth and consequent resurrection of Sarah’s child is what moves the plot in the Little Boy’s family, bringing Sarah and then Coalhouse into the household. Without Sarah’s child, Coalhouse never would have met them, and who knows if he would have had his car wrecked and wanted revenge. Similarly, Sarah’s child’s second resurrection is caused by the death of his mother, an event which pushes the plot of the novel further, causing Coalhouse to fall off the edge. Finally, Sarah’s child’s third resurrection is caused by the combination of the families, the conclusion of the story. Each resurrection represents a significant point in the novel without which there would be no plot.
Can you guys think of other examples of human resurrection? I remember Vikram coming up with some good ones in class, but I forgot them. . .
