Jesse Emerich 3/20/14Ragtime Essay Lit & Pol Bl. 4BDFE. L. Doctorow's novel Ragtime provides a story that interweaves historical figures with fictional characters in turn-of-the-century America. Halfway between fiction and history, the novel pushes the reader to question what is real and what is false. Through intertwined stories and relationships, each character develops their own distinctive story and personality. Set in a time of great change, the characters experience and undergo great transformations, for better or worse. Two important movements that happened during this time were the women's rights movement and the African American civil rights movement. Both Mother and Coalhouse represent these movements throughout the novel and the changes in the time period, respectively. The beginning of the novel portrays the mother as what would be considered the normal housewife. She cooked, cleaned, cared for her son, and pleased her husband. But during her husband's absence, she gained some independence, taking on his work duties. Upon the father's return, it is evident that the woman he has returned to is a changed woman and the relationship between mother and father changes drastically. Note on their bedside table, pamphlets by Emma Goldman, an anarchist revolutionary who advocates for equality between men and women. This shows Mom's interest in women's rights and her independence when it came to her thoughts. The mother seems to become more open intellectually and sexually, which irritates the father as he distances himself from... middle of paper... has suffered great discrimination from white Americans. His fight for justice was admirable as he fought for equal treatment, but his means turned violent and his fight became a battle in which he became a villain. The mother seems to succeed in achieving her goals of becoming herself and finding happiness, while Coalhouse receives his Model T, repaired, his love having died in the process and so he ultimately welcomes death, accepting that his struggle is over . . But with the end of the novel came a great historical triumph, the mother fully showed the new era by accepting Tateh, a Jewish socialist, as her husband, without worrying about his background or political position, but simply appreciating his character, and Coalhouse he had revealed to many the prejudicial treatment he had endured and thus raised awareness of African-American discrimination.