In E. L. Doctorow’s novel Ragtime, the interactions between two characters speak volumes about social expectations of gender and race in early 20th Century America. The characters are the young African-American woman known as Sarah, and the youngish African-American man named Coalhouse Walker Jr. As the story progresses, so their characters develop, and the audience’s knowledge of the social expectations of the time grows.
In the 1910’s, a black man or a black woman was expected to be humble and subservient to the lighter-toned races. Certainly, a black man wouldn’t own a car, drink tea, or speak in a “civilized” manner. I put civilized in quotes because, at the time, black people were considered by the masses to be “uncivilized”. Certainly, a black woman wouldn’t think for herself, act out on the behalf of others, and absolutely would not run up to the Vice President of the United States, arm outstretched, screaming “President! President!” on the behalf of a lover. However, over the course of Ragtime, exactly that occurs.
Sarah first appears in Ragtime when her newborn son is discovered buried in the garden of the main characters house in New Rochelle, New York. For simplicities’ sake, the main characters well be henceforth known as “Main Family”. When “Mother” discovers the baby, he is buried in her garden, but is crying gently. “The little boy” saw the baby which had been wrapped in a cotton blanket. “Mother” brought the child into their house and proceeded to wash up. After a while, a doctor and several policemen arrived to investigate.
“Within an hour a black woman was found in the cellar of a home on the next block....when the woman took the baby in her arms she began to cry. Mother was shocked by her youth....so the young black woman and her child were installed in a room on the top floor.” And with that, Sarah was introduced to Main Family. She sat alone at the apex of the house, largely forgotten, for a sizable portion of the book afterwards.
At this point in the story readers do not know why she attempted to bury her child, although interactions with others slowly allows her backstory to unfold, and paves the way for the character development that is inevitable in a historical novel such as this. Several chapters later, Sarah’s importance in the story appears again as Coalhouse Walker Jr. is introduced. He came looking for Sarah one Sunday afternoon in his Model T.
“Such was the coming of the colored man in the car to Broadview Avenue.” That, longish piece was Coalhouse Walker Jr.’s introduction. There were many aspects of the man which were striking at the time.
For starters, “he was dressed in the affectation of wealth to which colored people lent themselves.” For another, he owned his own car. “The car shone, the brightwork gleamed, there was a glass windshield and a custom pantasote top.” In 1900’s America, it was almost unheard of for a black man to own a car. “Father noticed that he suffered no embarrassment by being in the parlor with a cup and saucer in his hand. On the contrary, he acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world. His surroundings did not awe him nor was his manner deferential. He was courteous and correct...the colored man was respectful, but there was something disturbingly resolute and self-important in the way he asked her if he could please speak with Sarah.” All of these were considered to be white territory.
No, I have not forgotten that this paper is about Coalhouse and Sarah and how they interact. Throughout Coalhouse’s weekly visits, Sarah maintained her lack of presence in the parlor, absolutely refusing to see him. “Mother climbed to the third floor. She found the girl Sarah...standing rigidly...facing the door...’You don’t want to see him?’ ‘No, ma’am,’ the girl finally said softly....’send him away, please’....But Mother saw signs of progress. Sarah had taken on the duties of the departed housekeeper and now cleaned rooms so energetically and with such proprietary competence that Mother laughed with the momentary illusion that it was Sarah’s own house she was cleaning. She also began to claim her child at other than feeding time, first taking over his daily bath, then carrying him upstairs to her room at night....in the late winter Sarah said she would see Coalhouse Walker in the parlor.” And so Ragtime equivalent of the Ice Queen began to melt, and thus begun the fantastic “romantic comedy” known as the second half of Ragtime.
“Nothing was speeded by this. After the visit Sarah looked irritated and even angry. She was slow to forgive, and in some peculiar way her stubbornness seemed the only appropriate response to his persistence...but one Sunday in March...Coalhouse arrived in his shining Ford and left the motor idling. Neighbors in their yards came out to watch the strange intense black man...and the beautifully awkward Sarah...as they walked under the Norwegian maples and down the concrete steps to the street. She carried her baby. He helped her into the car and got up behind the wheel...this was the day he asked her to marry and she accepted. The appearance of these magnificent lovers in the family’s life had been startling; the conflict of their wills had exercised an almost hypnotic effect.” Now, Father suggests later on that Coalhouse, with his car, his actions, and his speech, didn’t know that he was a black man. I personally believe that Coalhouse was completely aware of his status as a black man, and was passively resisting the social expectations of negroes with every step. Here he was, fighting all the way, carrying forward the American Dream of carving out one’s own place in the world.
As we can see, while Coalhouse is resisting social expectations of a black man, this is in stark contrast to Sarah’s actions in the book. Sarah is a black woman, and her tactic of dealing with the social problems of race and gender is to go with the flow, fly under the radar, and hope you don’t get stepped upon. While Coalhouse acts like a middle class white male, Sarah plays the role of a poor black woman remarkably well. Until, that is, Coalhouse began visiting. And so began Sarah’s social bleaching.
It wasn’t nearly as awesome as that sounded. As the novel goes on, the non-romantic part of the plot arrives in the form of a fire brigade. Coalhouse was driving along, and the fire brigade in the area decided to harass him. He asked them to please move, and they demanded payment. He then got out of his car, walked out of his way to find a traffic cop, and asked for help. He received no such help, and returned to find his car “spattered with mud. There was a six-inch tear in the custom pantasote top. And deposited in the back seat was a mound of fresh human excrement.”
Coalhouse attempts to get help from the policemen, and thus begins an exchange that can only be described as classic 1900’s American racism. As Coalhouse attempted to bring justice about the “proper” way, he discovered that the “proper” way was stacked against him due to his being black. As he was a citizen, he was well within his rights to seek justice for what had been done to him. The state of New York, however, decided that they didn’t need to help a black man like him. At least he wasn’t in Mississippi.
Sarah decided to do something about it. She found out that the Vice-President was to visit New Rochelle, so she went along. She wanted to exercise her rights as a U.S. citizen and petition for a redress of grievances. “When the Vice-President’s car rolled up to the curb...Sarah broke through the line and ran toward him calling, in her confusion, President! President! Her arm was extended and her black hand reached toward him. He shrank from the contact...a militiaman stepped forward and, with the deadly officiousness of armed men who protect the famous, brought the butt of his Springfield against Sarah’s chest as hard as he could. She fell...Sarah...was coughing blood and in the early-morning hours it occurred to the sergeant in charge that perhaps she ought to be looked at by a doctor...Coalhouse was located and a few hours later he was sitting by Sarah’s bedside...they hear the sepulchral sounds of a grown man’s grief...toward the end of the week Sarah died.” After Sarah’s death, Coalhouse underwent severe psychological deterioration which led to his rampage in New York City, culminating with his spectacular decision to attempt to get rid of a library.
After being refused redress for the nth time, Coalhouse decided that the only option left was to take the law into his own hands. He, with the help of some friends, decided to bomb the headquarters of the offending fire brigade building. He left a note saying that he will continue his attacks until the head of the man responsible for his car’s state be brought to him and for his car to be repaired. The situation continued to escalate, and culminated in several members of the Main Family being trapped with Coalhouse’s gang in a Piers Morgan’s library, and the rest of the Main Family settling down elsewhere. Coalhouse dies by firing squad.
Over the course of the novel, Coalhouse and Sarah interacted, and their interactions taught us, the audience, an important lesson about America and social expectations: while there may be certain expectations, those expectations are not laws, and you are allowed to resist.
In the 1910’s, a black man or a black woman was expected to be humble and subservient to the lighter-toned races. Certainly, a black man wouldn’t own a car, drink tea, or speak in a “civilized” manner. I put civilized in quotes because, at the time, black people were considered by the masses to be “uncivilized”. Certainly, a black woman wouldn’t think for herself, act out on the behalf of others, and absolutely would not run up to the Vice President of the United States, arm outstretched, screaming “President! President!” on the behalf of a lover. However, over the course of Ragtime, exactly that occurs.
Sarah first appears in Ragtime when her newborn son is discovered buried in the garden of the main characters house in New Rochelle, New York. For simplicities’ sake, the main characters well be henceforth known as “Main Family”. When “Mother” discovers the baby, he is buried in her garden, but is crying gently. “The little boy” saw the baby which had been wrapped in a cotton blanket. “Mother” brought the child into their house and proceeded to wash up. After a while, a doctor and several policemen arrived to investigate.
“Within an hour a black woman was found in the cellar of a home on the next block....when the woman took the baby in her arms she began to cry. Mother was shocked by her youth....so the young black woman and her child were installed in a room on the top floor.” And with that, Sarah was introduced to Main Family. She sat alone at the apex of the house, largely forgotten, for a sizable portion of the book afterwards.
At this point in the story readers do not know why she attempted to bury her child, although interactions with others slowly allows her backstory to unfold, and paves the way for the character development that is inevitable in a historical novel such as this. Several chapters later, Sarah’s importance in the story appears again as Coalhouse Walker Jr. is introduced. He came looking for Sarah one Sunday afternoon in his Model T.
“Such was the coming of the colored man in the car to Broadview Avenue.” That, longish piece was Coalhouse Walker Jr.’s introduction. There were many aspects of the man which were striking at the time.
For starters, “he was dressed in the affectation of wealth to which colored people lent themselves.” For another, he owned his own car. “The car shone, the brightwork gleamed, there was a glass windshield and a custom pantasote top.” In 1900’s America, it was almost unheard of for a black man to own a car. “Father noticed that he suffered no embarrassment by being in the parlor with a cup and saucer in his hand. On the contrary, he acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world. His surroundings did not awe him nor was his manner deferential. He was courteous and correct...the colored man was respectful, but there was something disturbingly resolute and self-important in the way he asked her if he could please speak with Sarah.” All of these were considered to be white territory.
No, I have not forgotten that this paper is about Coalhouse and Sarah and how they interact. Throughout Coalhouse’s weekly visits, Sarah maintained her lack of presence in the parlor, absolutely refusing to see him. “Mother climbed to the third floor. She found the girl Sarah...standing rigidly...facing the door...’You don’t want to see him?’ ‘No, ma’am,’ the girl finally said softly....’send him away, please’....But Mother saw signs of progress. Sarah had taken on the duties of the departed housekeeper and now cleaned rooms so energetically and with such proprietary competence that Mother laughed with the momentary illusion that it was Sarah’s own house she was cleaning. She also began to claim her child at other than feeding time, first taking over his daily bath, then carrying him upstairs to her room at night....in the late winter Sarah said she would see Coalhouse Walker in the parlor.” And so Ragtime equivalent of the Ice Queen began to melt, and thus begun the fantastic “romantic comedy” known as the second half of Ragtime.
“Nothing was speeded by this. After the visit Sarah looked irritated and even angry. She was slow to forgive, and in some peculiar way her stubbornness seemed the only appropriate response to his persistence...but one Sunday in March...Coalhouse arrived in his shining Ford and left the motor idling. Neighbors in their yards came out to watch the strange intense black man...and the beautifully awkward Sarah...as they walked under the Norwegian maples and down the concrete steps to the street. She carried her baby. He helped her into the car and got up behind the wheel...this was the day he asked her to marry and she accepted. The appearance of these magnificent lovers in the family’s life had been startling; the conflict of their wills had exercised an almost hypnotic effect.” Now, Father suggests later on that Coalhouse, with his car, his actions, and his speech, didn’t know that he was a black man. I personally believe that Coalhouse was completely aware of his status as a black man, and was passively resisting the social expectations of negroes with every step. Here he was, fighting all the way, carrying forward the American Dream of carving out one’s own place in the world.
As we can see, while Coalhouse is resisting social expectations of a black man, this is in stark contrast to Sarah’s actions in the book. Sarah is a black woman, and her tactic of dealing with the social problems of race and gender is to go with the flow, fly under the radar, and hope you don’t get stepped upon. While Coalhouse acts like a middle class white male, Sarah plays the role of a poor black woman remarkably well. Until, that is, Coalhouse began visiting. And so began Sarah’s social bleaching.
It wasn’t nearly as awesome as that sounded. As the novel goes on, the non-romantic part of the plot arrives in the form of a fire brigade. Coalhouse was driving along, and the fire brigade in the area decided to harass him. He asked them to please move, and they demanded payment. He then got out of his car, walked out of his way to find a traffic cop, and asked for help. He received no such help, and returned to find his car “spattered with mud. There was a six-inch tear in the custom pantasote top. And deposited in the back seat was a mound of fresh human excrement.”
Coalhouse attempts to get help from the policemen, and thus begins an exchange that can only be described as classic 1900’s American racism. As Coalhouse attempted to bring justice about the “proper” way, he discovered that the “proper” way was stacked against him due to his being black. As he was a citizen, he was well within his rights to seek justice for what had been done to him. The state of New York, however, decided that they didn’t need to help a black man like him. At least he wasn’t in Mississippi.
Sarah decided to do something about it. She found out that the Vice-President was to visit New Rochelle, so she went along. She wanted to exercise her rights as a U.S. citizen and petition for a redress of grievances. “When the Vice-President’s car rolled up to the curb...Sarah broke through the line and ran toward him calling, in her confusion, President! President! Her arm was extended and her black hand reached toward him. He shrank from the contact...a militiaman stepped forward and, with the deadly officiousness of armed men who protect the famous, brought the butt of his Springfield against Sarah’s chest as hard as he could. She fell...Sarah...was coughing blood and in the early-morning hours it occurred to the sergeant in charge that perhaps she ought to be looked at by a doctor...Coalhouse was located and a few hours later he was sitting by Sarah’s bedside...they hear the sepulchral sounds of a grown man’s grief...toward the end of the week Sarah died.” After Sarah’s death, Coalhouse underwent severe psychological deterioration which led to his rampage in New York City, culminating with his spectacular decision to attempt to get rid of a library.
After being refused redress for the nth time, Coalhouse decided that the only option left was to take the law into his own hands. He, with the help of some friends, decided to bomb the headquarters of the offending fire brigade building. He left a note saying that he will continue his attacks until the head of the man responsible for his car’s state be brought to him and for his car to be repaired. The situation continued to escalate, and culminated in several members of the Main Family being trapped with Coalhouse’s gang in a Piers Morgan’s library, and the rest of the Main Family settling down elsewhere. Coalhouse dies by firing squad.
Over the course of the novel, Coalhouse and Sarah interacted, and their interactions taught us, the audience, an important lesson about America and social expectations: while there may be certain expectations, those expectations are not laws, and you are allowed to resist.
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