Recreation and Reincarnation in Ragtime

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An interesting theme in Ragtime is the paradigm of recreation and reincarnation that Doctorow creates throughout the novel. The idea of literal reincarnation is first brought up by J.P Morgan as he discusses the topic with Henry Ford. Both men endorse the idea of literal rebirth, and Henry Ford even notes that he feels he is a genius because he has just lived more times than other humans. Although most readers in contemporary times regard this idea as preposterous, reincarnation takes a more figurative meaning throughout the book as many characters experience a rebirth and reform themselves, including Harry Houdini and Tateh.
Harry Houdini was born as a poor Hungarian Jewish Immigrant named Erik Weisz. He had a flat face shaped like an upside-down triangle, with a noticeably crooked nose. He could never gain any sort of acceptance, success, or fame as a Jew. So, he decided to reinvent himself as Harry Houdini, naming himself after a famous Frenchman named Houdin. He left behind everything undesirable about his Jewish heritage, as he was reborn as Harry Houdini and quickly began to enjoy a vast commercial success. As Harry Houdini, he was a mystical, handsome strongman. Doctorow explores the idea that he can never leave his original identity behind, however, with his deep love of his Jewish mother who he continues to value and visit throughout his adult life.
Tateh also experiences a rebirth, after the reader becomes slightly disconnected from his story. We leave off seeing him begin to experience a small amount of success as an artist, as he profits from selling a flipbook to a man at a novelties store. However, he appears to quickly realize he has no chance for success as a Jew either, as he renames himself “Baron Ashkenazy,” to help him navigate the Christian world. Ashkenazy, of course, serves as an everlasting reminder of Tateh’s Judaism, as he is an Ashkenazi Jew. Furthermore, we learn that instead of hiding his Yiddish accent, he “rolls it off his tongue with a flourish” to appear as a refined Baron to the amateur ear. Tateh is an interesting character because, in his reincarnation, he focuses on masking his Judaism whilst keeping it as a reminder from where he came from. To the public, Tateh wants to appear as Christian European Aristocracy, however, inside, he knows he is still the same man.

Comments

  1. KatieFebruary 8, 2020 at 2:53 PM

    The transformation of Tateh is quite astonishing and is meant to be so. Doctorow leaves Tateh's story line for a few chapters, and when we next see him he literally has a new name. Tateh is almost unrecognizable from the socialist in the slums. I think the way Doctorow set up Tateh's transformation was a good way to surprise the reader. And while Mother and Younger Brother didn't change their names or anything, they too had a turning point in character. Mother takes on roles and becomes the leader of the household, clearly independent of Father. Younger Brother finds himself and becomes a radical. Who would have thought that of the him at the start? Overall, transformation and reincarnation can be found all over the place in Ragtime.

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  2. Lucas WoodFebruary 8, 2020 at 9:02 PM

    This is a trend that I hadn't previously picked up on, however I certainly agree with it. I would say other characters like Evelyn, Mother, and Mother's Younger Brother also experience a sort of reincarnation at least to some degree. Doctorow's narrative certainly displays a motif of reinvention and I hadn't connected that to the reincarnation stuff until now.

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  3. Mayahuel MalikFebruary 8, 2020 at 10:36 PM

    Though we talked a lot in class about reincarnation, I had never thought about it in this light. I completely agree with your examples of "reincarnated" characters and definitely see how more people in the book experienced similar transformations. Though different, in the fact that they aren't immigrants, I would say Mother and her family also were reincarnated. After father left they were able to change and thrive; moreover as the family dynamic changed with Sarah and her baby, they were unrecognizable to the family we were originally introduced to.

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  4. Alex HynesFebruary 9, 2020 at 12:09 PM

    I like this way of looking at the reincarnation theme. Obviously there is the whole thing with Morgan and Coalhouse/Kohlhaas, but I never thought of it this way. The whole book is centered around the development of characters as the world changes. We see the progression of Mother and Younger Brother in contrast to Father who seems to be stuck in the past. The same can also be said for Coalhouse. I think that as you mention, there are a lot of similarities between, the the fictional Tateh and real Houdini. I had never realized the similarities of the situations of these two.

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  5. Grace JuhnFebruary 9, 2020 at 1:56 PM

    This was something I discussed in my panel presentation and I found a couple examples to talk about the whole idea of reincarnation and reproduction, but I never realized that Houdini also played into this idea of rebirth and renewed identity. We see Houdini's cheat sheet for his tricks and we see why he developed into the person he was, it was because no one would accept him as a Jew. It's interesting how Doctorow presents Houdini as a normal man behind the scenes but as this majestic and godly like figure in the eyes of others. This is maybe to show readers that Houdini is just like us, a guy who wanted to find identity in something that would be seen as acceptable so he decided to start new and fresh.

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  6. SimonFebruary 9, 2020 at 7:48 PM

    I love the idea of expanding Doctorow’s reincarnation theme to Tateh and Houdini. I’d always just thought of it in its most literal form with Morgan and Ford, but in some ways Tateh and Houdini have more claim to the idea of rebirth than Morgan does. While through most of the book the idea of reincarnation is thrown around, the book never comes out and explicitly says that people are reincarnated after they die. But with Tateh and Houdini, there is no question that they completely remade themselves and are in some way reborn.

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