Ragtime

Nicole Paschal

At first I was very confused about why some people had names while others were simply referred to as their title. I have decided that his happened for multiple reasons. I realized the book described many historical events, yet then incorporated these real people in with those created by E.L. Doctrow. Since many of the characters are historical people it seems reasonable that they are the ones referred to as their real names. Figures such as Evelyn Nesbit and Harry Harry Houdini make appearances in the novel. Having the characters who are not real be left without names helps reader to understand the difference between historically important events and major plot points.

Since the imaginary characters do not have names it helps readers to understand their role within society. Characters such as Mom, Dad, Tateh, Little Boy and Little Girl are quickly recognized because of their simplicity of names. I feel that their names are so general because these characters are supposed to represent people of this time, and not only these characters. Mom and Dad represent the wealthier American citizens of the time where as Tateh and Mameh represent the immigrants traveling to America for a better life. The different general names represent the stereotypical family environment for American citizens and people who had recently migrated to the States. Using these vague names instead of a specific first name helps people to see that these situations were not specific to only these families. The final reason for the characters not having specific names is to promote creativitiy. Without names the individual reader can come up with their own image and name for the characters in the novel. This method has many purposes including helping creativity as well as greater a general picture of what life was like during this time period.