Ragtime

The little boy gathers a secret treasure trove of his family’s discarded goods, including Father’s trashed Arctic expedition journals and Evelyn’s relics, left behind by Mother’s Younger Brother. The boy collects discarded things, “alert not only to discarded materials but to unexpected events and coincidences” (115). He is close to Grandfather, who he considers one of his family’s discarded things. The boy clings to Grandfather’s stories and becomes consumed with their themes of transformation and evolution. The little boy observes his family through the lens of change, studying how his father came back from his expedition a different person. To the little boy, “It was evident […] that the world composed and recomposed itself constantly in an endless process of dissatisfaction” (118). Winter arrives, and the family brings the little boy ice skating. He enjoys studying the tracks left by other skaters, seeing how the different paths overlap.

That same winter, Tateh and his daughter move to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Tateh begins working at a mill and refuses to allow the girl to attend school. After one mill shortchanges their workers’ pay, Lawrence’s laborers go on strike. The Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W), a labor union, becomes involved in helping the laborers maintain the strike. Violence brews as the mills and local government call in militia to keep the workers at bay. Even with the tension, the girl enjoys the strike because it allows her to leave the house and see her father’s political passions on display. The strike becomes famous nationally due to press coverage. A children’s crusade program is created wherein upper class families across America offer to house striking families as a move of solidarity. Tateh debates whether to send the girl away to one of these boarding families, ultimately sending her to Philadelphia. The morning of the girl’s departing, an incident occurs on the train platform. The police violently separate parents from their children, preventing the families from sending their kids away. Tateh lifts the girl onto the train just as a policeman begins beating him. The violent scene eventually clears. As Tateh regains his strength, he hears the girl calling his name. Her train is leaving. Tateh races toward her and jumps on the train just as it leaves the platform.

A doctor tends to Tateh’s wounds on the train. They arrive in Philadelphia, and Tateh sees that newspaper headlines are all about the police violence back in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Exhausted by the constant antagonism associated with being a laborer in America, “Tateh began to conceive of his life as separate from the fate of the working class” (131). He observes Philadelphia’s many shopfronts and enters a store called the Franklin Novelty Company. Tateh presents himself as an artist and shows the proprietor samples of his silhouette work. Tateh leaves with a $25 advance and a letter of agreement commissioning him for a series of art books.

The first of Henry Ford’s Model T automobiles is produced in Highland Park, Michigan. Ford basks in the victory of inventing a new form of labor: the production line. This allows for industrial bosses to hire anybody for production, ending the necessity of hunting down specialized workers. Ford knows this will revolutionize American labor. He allows for his executives, managers, and assistants to enjoy a brief celebration before pushing them to get back to work. Ford wants the workers’ production to be improved.

Despite his penchant for innovation, Ford does not occupy the top spot as America’s leading businessman. That title goes to Pierpont Morgan of the J.P. Morgan Company. Morgan enjoys travel and collecting rare artifacts, manuscripts, and religious relics. He becomes obsessed with ancient Egyptians and their belief that “there is a sacred tribe of heroes, a colony from the gods who are regularly born in every age to assist mankind” (142). After his travels, Morgan returns to America and takes a liking to Ford and his focused techniques. Morgan is disgusted by other business tycoons and their apathetic approach to life. He feels that Ford will share his fascination with ancient Egypt.

Morgan invites Ford to his New York City residence in Murray Hill. Morgan brings Ford into a secret room which houses an original folio of The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencrutz, a book recounting the work of Christian alchemists in the 17th century. Morgan tells Ford that he believes in magic and gods, and that he adheres to the ancient Egyptian belief that gods walk amongst mankind. He believes that he and Ford, as leaders of American innovation, are gods reincarnated in human form. He invites Ford to an expedition to Egypt to investigate the matter further. After a long silence, Ford tells Morgan of a book he read as a child that he bought for 25 cents: An Eastern Fakir’s Eternal Wisdom. He says that this book taught him about reincarnation, which he also believes in; he feels that his genius comes from his spirit having lived multiple lives. Ford taunts Morgan by telling him that he learned all of Morgan’s spiritual discoveries in his youth for mere pennies. Ford does not go to Egypt with Morgan, but the two will later found a secret and exclusive club called The Pyramid. Though the two men are the only two members, the club “endowed certain researches which persist to this day” (153).

One morning, a Black man driving a Model T car arrives at the New Rochelle house. The little boy greets him. The Black man is named Coalhouse Walker, Jr. and is looking for a woman named Sarah. Realizing he means the Black woman with the baby, the little boy fetches Mother. She tells Sarah that she has a caller, but Sarah refuses to see him. Mother goes to tell Walker that Sarah has refused his company but finds him already inside gazing at the baby. Mother kicks him out of the house, outraged that he came inside without a proper invitation.

Walker continues to call on Sarah every Sunday and becomes a regular guest at the house. Sarah continues to refuse his calls, but the family grows very fond of him. They discover that he is a professional pianist who works in New York City. Walker plays a series of ragtime pieces for the family, and everyone is impressed with his playing. In the late winter, Sarah finally agrees to see Walker, but is slow to forgive him for their past. Mother’s Younger Brother feels drawn to both Sarah and Walker, empathizing with their romantic troubles after his failed relationship with Evelyn. One Sunday in March, Sarah leaves the New Rochelle house with her child and goes off with Coalhouse Walker. The two plan on getting married.