As the first book in History as Fiction, Ragtime has been an enjoyable read. One aspect of Doctorow’s writing that I found particularly interesting is his seemingly complete control over the story. One theme that pops up time and time again in Ragtime is that of complete coincidence. Doctorow presents these remarkable concurrence of events in such a matter-of-fact way that, as a reader, we’ve almost become desensitized to it.
Doctorow shows his control early in the story when the little boy has a surprise encounter with Harry Houdini. Doctorow begins by explaining the little boy’s interest in Houdini, followed by a description of the types of shenanigans Houdini gets himself into. As I was reading this part I felt as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It’s quite normal for a young boy to be interested in Houdini’s seemingly magical escapes. However, what happened next was quite a surprise. Of course, just as the little boy was thinking about Houdini Doctorow manages to bring him into the story. For some reason Houdini’s car is coming up the same street that the little boy is on and by some supernatural force, the car swerves and crashes right next to the house. As the boy describes the car, he says “It had brass head-lamps in front of the radiator and brass side lamps over the fenders. It had tufted upholstery and double side entrances. It did not appear to be damaged.” By some miracle, the car is aesthetically flawless but unable to continue, thus Houdini must stop at the house and interact with the little boy and his family. At the end of the chapter, as Houdini is leaving, the boy yells something seemingly nonsensical: “Warn the Duke, the little boy said. Then he ran off.” As I read the story, I felt suspicious that the boy’s words would relate to something later in the story and of course, Houdini meets the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in chapter 13.
Doctorow seems to have a playful approach in blending history and fiction. He takes historical figures such as Houdini and the Archduke and puts them in ridiculous and sometimes coincidental, yet still possible, situations. It’s completely possible for Houdini to have been driving through Westchester looking to buy property, and it’s just as possible that he meets the Archduke. Despite this, you can’t help but think it’s fake and yet it’s quite hard to disprove. He breaks no obvious rules of the world. As we discussed in class history does not cover everything that has ever happened in the world and Doctorow seems to play on this by presenting small details that history glances over.
