The Narrator in Ragtime

One of the factors that makes Ragtime so unique is its narrator and narration style throughout the book. Personally, I can’t pinpoint the narrator into exactly one category.

Although the narrator could be considered as objective, it still seems to lead the readers to a certain conclusion in some matters, almost narrating situations to us from a modern perspective. For example, in the passage on page 34, the narrator recites facts, which are indeed truthful, but in such a way that leaves the reader disgusted at the state of America. The narrator tells the story of working America satirically from employers' perspective, emphasizing that even children are dehumanized into being more “agile than adults” but “most likely to lose their fingers”. The narrator also hits readers with issue after issue with America, overwhelming us with the dreadfulness that used to be normalized in the early 1900s. Even though the facts themselves are horrific, the way the narrator presents them to us is as if telling us, “you SHOULD be disgusted by this.”

This type of modern perspective continues to show in other parts of Ragtime. When Father sees the immigrants on the boat on his way out on his expedition, the narrator describes the immigrants as “filthy and illiterate. They stank of fish and garlic. They had running sores. They had no honor and worked for next to nothing. They stole. They drank. They raped their own daughters. They killed each other casually”, portraying the general view of immigrants that an American would have around 1912 (17). However, the narrator soon goes on to tell the hardworking and genuine spirit of these immigrants: “People stitched themselves to the flag. They carved paving stones for the streets. They sang. They told jokes” (18). This opinion on immigrants is more likely to be told by someone in the later 1900s, showing the historical perspective of the narrator being able to contrast how certain things were viewed at the time, then how they’re viewed “currently” (whenever these events are being narrated to the reader).

Based on the historical perspective, my guess as to who would be narrating this book is someone in 1975, around when the book was published. If the narrator does however end up being someone in the storyline of Ragtime, I would consider the narrator to be the little boy or the little girl, as they would be the only ones young enough to provide a modern perspective on the current matters. However, I look forward to more clues in the narration that might suggest who our narrator is.