American Society: as Seen Through a Baseball Game
As psychologist Robert Johnson noted,”History has always been a series of pendulum swings, but the individual doesn't have to get caught in that.” The social ‘pendulum’ swing has been evident throughout history, but particularly evident during the period of the early 1900s leading up to the roaring twenties. In E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, Father, a main character, has trouble fitting into the new world. One must inquire deeper into the work to find that the author’s use of literary devices and writing style reflect Father’s discontent with his own life, and the new America being built around him. During the story, taking place mainly in the New York City area from 1902 until 1912, Father takes his son, referred to by the author as “Little Boy”, to a baseball game, a classic American sport, and the passage can be analyzed to reveal a deeper meaning in the context of the plot, and in the context of the country during that time. In chapter 30 of Ragtime, Doctorow uses diction, symbolism, and characterization of Father as a vehicle to present the development of America during this time period. Father decides to take Little Boy to a Giants game, hoping to relax and bond with his son, only to be met with an unsportsmanlike violent game of baseball. The legendary manager of the team, McGraw, is portrayed as a dark, pugnacious figure, wearing “a heavy black cardigan over his barreled trunk” (192). As soon as the game gets going, the members of the team get into fights. Because of Father’s up front choice of seating in the stadium, “The players’ every ragging curse [can] be heard clearly by his son” (192). Doctorow uses violent diction to portray this “brawl”, as it is seen by father. McGraw, the team manager and commanding figure of the team, “stood at third base unleashing the most violent string of epithets of anyone” (192). Unlike Father, the majority of the crowd “yelled its encouragement” (192). After the pitcher hits the batsman with a pitch, yet again the “dugouts emptied and players wrestled with each other… and beat clouds of dust into the air” (192). These violent events unravel to reveal a darker, more twisted version of a once traditional, forthright sporting game. Baseball is widely considered one of the most “American” sports, so it is obvious that Doctorow uses it as a symbol for the country. However, not only is the sport itself a symbol, the placement of this event in the novel, and its connection to the characters is a symbol for the previously mentioned pendulum swing in American society. …show more content…
An important personal theme for Father is the lack of care for his son, and the baseball game is representative of that. He takes Little Boy to the baseball game, hoping to bond with him at a traditional American sporting event, but is annoyed when he arrives to find how different it is, remembering instead when he played at Harvard and the game was played "avidly, but as sportsmen" (194). He had been away for a long time on the Peary expedition, and he attempts to make up for his emotional absence from Little Boy but unsuccessfully, only to realize his failure as a Father. Later during the baseball game, Father has a realization as
As psychologist Robert Johnson noted,”History has always been a series of pendulum swings, but the individual doesn't have to get caught in that.” The social ‘pendulum’ swing has been evident throughout history, but particularly evident during the period of the early 1900s leading up to the roaring twenties. In E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, Father, a main character, has trouble fitting into the new world. One must inquire deeper into the work to find that the author’s use of literary devices and writing style reflect Father’s discontent with his own life, and the new America being built around him. During the story, taking place mainly in the New York City area from 1902 until 1912, Father takes his son, referred to by the author as “Little Boy”, to a baseball game, a classic American sport, and the passage can be analyzed to reveal a deeper meaning in the context of the plot, and in the context of the country during that time. In chapter 30 of Ragtime, Doctorow uses diction, symbolism, and characterization of Father as a vehicle to present the development of America during this time period. Father decides to take Little Boy to a Giants game, hoping to relax and bond with his son, only to be met with an unsportsmanlike violent game of baseball. The legendary manager of the team, McGraw, is portrayed as a dark, pugnacious figure, wearing “a heavy black cardigan over his barreled trunk” (192). As soon as the game gets going, the members of the team get into fights. Because of Father’s up front choice of seating in the stadium, “The players’ every ragging curse [can] be heard clearly by his son” (192). Doctorow uses violent diction to portray this “brawl”, as it is seen by father. McGraw, the team manager and commanding figure of the team, “stood at third base unleashing the most violent string of epithets of anyone” (192). Unlike Father, the majority of the crowd “yelled its encouragement” (192). After the pitcher hits the batsman with a pitch, yet again the “dugouts emptied and players wrestled with each other… and beat clouds of dust into the air” (192). These violent events unravel to reveal a darker, more twisted version of a once traditional, forthright sporting game. Baseball is widely considered one of the most “American” sports, so it is obvious that Doctorow uses it as a symbol for the country. However, not only is the sport itself a symbol, the placement of this event in the novel, and its connection to the characters is a symbol for the previously mentioned pendulum swing in American society. …show more content…
An important personal theme for Father is the lack of care for his son, and the baseball game is representative of that. He takes Little Boy to the baseball game, hoping to bond with him at a traditional American sporting event, but is annoyed when he arrives to find how different it is, remembering instead when he played at Harvard and the game was played "avidly, but as sportsmen" (194). He had been away for a long time on the Peary expedition, and he attempts to make up for his emotional absence from Little Boy but unsuccessfully, only to realize his failure as a Father. Later during the baseball game, Father has a realization as