Father's Exclusion - Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

            In E.L. Doctorow’s novel Ragtime, the character, Father, represents one of the most metaphorical roles in the story. Father is a representation of many upper middle class, traditional members of American society in the era in which Ragtime takes places. After his return from the Arctic, he feels completed isolated and excluded from his family. His son had matured greatly and his wife had developed a strong sense of independence by taking over the families economic and business affairs. We see Father’s lack of belonging when he looks at himself in the new mirror in the bathroom. He sees a lonely man without place and self—and this depresses him. Father was born into an upper class family and attended Harvard University, helping him become very successful in a fireworks company.

            We see a sense of Father’s exclusion when he attends a baseball game with his son. He notices there are many foreign players. This is much different than the baseball games he saw when he attended Harvard, which is what he compares these new games to. He bases many of his assumption and views off of stereotypes and we see a sort of bitterness towards change and progressiveness. This helps explain why he hates Coalhouse Walker. Coalhouse represents change and something that is not considered “normal” by traditional American standards. He challenges the assumptions of white people, leading people, like Father, perplexed as to how they should communicate or deal with him. This also represents the resentful attitude that most Americans had towards the mass influx of immigrants at this time. He is somewhat incapable of dealing with or adapting to these changes in society and is emotionally disturbed by his loss of identity within the family.  In many ways, Father is similar to an immigrant. He has nearly no sense of self and belonging and he constantly struggles to adapt this new lifestyle.