EQ: Is Coalhouse Walker a tragic hero, an anti-hero, a revolutionary or something else? Does the interpretation depend on which literary theory is used as a critical lens to approach the literature?
See pp. 252 and 255 in text for what Doctorow writes
(ANALYSIS/EVALUATION)
VIDEO: "Such a rage in my heart":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPDoc6alrlE
ACTIVITY: In small groups of 3 or 4, using the Conversational Roundtable graphic organizer and after READING the handouts, DISCUSS and EVALUATE whether Coalhouse Walker Jr. is a tragic hero, an antihero, a terrorist, or a symbol of Black Pride. Use text evidence to support your claims.
REPORT YOUR GROUP'S FINDINGS TO THE CLASS...
DEFINITIONS:
A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.
(HANDOUT)
An antihero or antiheroine is a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, and morality. These individuals often possess dark personality traits such as disagreeableness, dishonesty, and aggressiveness. These characters are usually considered "conspicuously contrary to an archetypal hero
From Wikipedia:
The antihero entered American literature in the 1950s and up to the mid-1960s was portrayed as an alienated figure, unable to communicate.[22] The American antihero of the 1950s and 1960s (as seen in the works of Jack Kerouac, Norman Mailer, et al.) was typically more proactive than his French counterpart; with characters such as Kerouac's Dean Moriarty famously taking to the road to vanquish his ennui.[23] The British version of the antihero emerged in the works of the "angry young men" of the 1950s.[8][24] The collective protests of Sixties counterculture saw the solitary antihero gradually eclipsed from fictional prominence,[25] though not without subsequent revivals in literary and cinematic form.[26]
The antihero also plays a role in Western films, especially revisionist Westerns and some Spaghetti Westerns Lead figures in these films may be morally ambiguous.
The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has the self as the center of his or her own existence.
From Shmoop: Tragic Hero? Prideful?
Doctorow named his main character Coalhouse Walker after a character named Michael Kohlhaas (yep, sounds pretty much like Coalhouse) who suffers a similar humiliation in an 1811 novella published by Heinrich von Kleist. Both men pursue justice, and both meet the same tragic end.
Coalhouse is of course a very different character, though, because he's black at a time in America when being black and looking the wrong way at a white guy can get you killed. And Coalhouse doesn't just look at people, he stares them down. This is a man who doesn't back down from a fight. Father thinks of Coalhouse as a man who doesn't "act or talk like a colored man" (21.14), and it is this demeanor—and his fancy car—that irritates the bigoted volunteer firemen and leads to the vandalism of his car. As the narrator tells us, it does not occur to Coalhouse to "ingratiate himself in the fashion of his race" (23.5). He is a proud dude.
Coalhouse doesn't take no for an answer—not when he thinks he's in the right, at least. He's a man who holds on to his principles. He stubbornly holds his ground when Sarah won't see him at first, returning every Sunday only to be turned away. He takes persistence to the next level, because he really, really likes Sarah.
And he does the same when he's told to forget about getting his car replaced. He's willing to wait for justice, however long it takes. But his pride turns out to be a fatal flaw—he won't marry Sarah until the car issue is resolved, which leads the beginning of his downfall when she's killed seeking justice for him. Ugh. We hate it when old truisms like "pride goeth before a fall" turn out to be true. If Coalhouse had just paid attention to the morals of stories with hubristic tragic heroes, he would have been fine. Pay attention, kids: literature can save lives.
After Sarah's death, Coalhouse becomes that classic character in film and books that has nothing to lose. He's like Walter White meets Omar Little meets every character Liam Neeson ever played. He wants nothing except revenge against everyone who wronged him. This leads to the destruction of two firehouses and the killing of police and firemen, and ultimately, to his own death after he and his gang take over J.P. Morgan's library.
Doctorow dramatizes the difference between Coalhouse and accepted black behavior at the time through a clever technique—he brings in the black educator Booker T. Washington to negotiate with Coalhouse. Washington is famous for advocating peaceful solutions to discrimination and racism, but Coalhouse tells him he insists on both the "truth of our manhood and the respect it demands" (37.3)
from Spark notes: Quintessential Amgry Black male?
Coalhouse Walker
Coalhouse Walker, the black musician and the lover of Sarah, has incredible import to the main themes of the novel. His characterization provides insight into race relations in turn-of-the-century America. Many characters react strongly to his mannerisms, as they believe his social position does not warrant such behavior. Because Coalhouse conducts himself with a sense of pride atypical of African Americans at this point in history, his expectations of how he should be treated repeatedly come into direct conflict with others' expectations of how African Americans should be treated. Coalhouse Walker, then, represents all African Americans who challenge the expectations many whites have of them. However, his character ultimately becomes the quintessential angry black male as he resorts to violence to resolve his feelings toward society.NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4800936
NPR: Terrorist?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4800936
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4800936
FREEMAN: Three decades ago, when I read the book
"Ragtime," and more recently saw the play, I cheered Coalhouse.
Terrorist, schmerrorist. He was a man done wrong with a right to strike back. I
reveled in his mighty revenge. I hated his enemies. I was oblivious to his
victims. Now I imagine Coalhouse sitting in a cave wearing a turban or crouched
in a sniper's nest. His cause--the struggle against racism and for justice--is
ever-compelling, but bombing is endlessly evil.
Today, my mental images of what's called `justified violence'
includes the broken bodies of the victims and the broken hearts of their
families. The appeal of killers just ain't what it used to be, even when the
killers are virtuous, good-looking brothers with dynamite lyrics. Slogans like
`Give me liberty or give me death' or `I regret that I have but one life to
give to my country' have lost their innocence. All the violent guys, the
bombers and soldiers, the lieutenants and generals on all sides, combine, in my
mind, to one sad idea.
NORRIS: Aaron Freeman lives in Chicago.
https://oldalexius.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/ragtime-the-dangers-of-abstract-moralizing/
From "Sacrifice and the American Dream" --Symbol of Black Pride
Coalhouse Walker, Jr., the enigmatic black rag pianist, also seeks the American dream, although the price he pays for his is the greatest sacrifice a single person can ever make. During the 1910's, many blacks faced an uphill battle to achieve both economic and social equality with whites. Walker has already attained material success but finds out that racial harmony is absent from his life. Due to a lavish existence, he fails to recognize the social disparity that plagued the nation. His romantic world, though, breaks down when he faces his racial realities in an encounter with a bigoted fire chief. On a Sunday afternoon, Walker drives by the Emerald Isle Fire Station where he is stopped by two white officers and forced to vacate his car. After a futile attempt complaining to a policeman, Walker returns to the fire station and finds his car "spattered with mud" and a "mound of fresh human excrement" on his back seat(Ragtime 148). This unjust, deplorable act of racial intolerance changes Walker; instead of only caring about aesthetics and materialism, he now finds himself at the forefront of a battle for civil rights. Racial equality now becomes Walker's American dream. His only wish is for his Model T to be returned to him in the condition he left it, and to achieve this, Walker is willing to employ any means necessary, including violent confrontation; "there was an explosion...the building [the Emerald Isle Fire Station] was a pile of charred ruins(Ragtime 171-172). His rage had now become a bloody battle. The violence next turns to J.P. Morgan's library, where Walker and a gang of other blacks are threatening to blow up the elegant edifice.
Here, another character that also made sacrifices in order to achieve the American dream of racial harmony is introduced, although this man is pure non-fiction.Booker T. Washington's appearance in Ragtime further illustrates the great concessions many blacks were willing to make in order to attain some sort of peace between the races. In 1894, Washington admitted that he was willing to give up the "reconstruction demand for racial equality" and "political and civil rights" (National 429). In order to achieve the "dream", Washington believed that blacks must give something up in exchange for harmony, even if it meant remaining subordinates in the social and political arenas of the United States. His struggle contrasts with Walker's, although both were willing to lose something in order further the cause of racial amity.
On a tense spring day, Coalhouse Walker, Jr. pays the ultimate price while attempting to attain his American dream, but his death was neither unexpected nor fruitless. He is willing to die for what he believes in, willing to give up his life in order to further a righteous cause. Death is the ultimate sacrifice one can make while attempting to achieve a dream. In a historical context, deaths like Coalhouse's simply fueled the fire for others, further expanding the hopes that one day the dream of racial equity will be reached. According to Charles Berryman, "Coalhouse Walker...becomes a symbol of black pride and triumph. Ideologies such as his would further resonate in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's"(86).
Critical Discussion regarding Ragtime:
http://www.lorejournal.org/2009/03/critical-discussion-surrounding-e-l-doctorow%E2%80%99s-ragtime-by-joseph-volk-point-loma-nazarene-university/
HMWK: Bring paper and pen to class tomorrow for in-class writing
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