Mother’s Younger Brother's Purpose
Mother’s Younger Brother sure is a character to remember in Ragtime -- even if Doctorow chose to leave him unnamed. His name almost seems to draw even less attention and importance than the other unnamed characters such as “Mother” and “Father”. However, we follow him rather consistently throughout the book compared to some other characters and watch him as he tries to find purpose in his life, even if that purpose is questionable and comes through the lives of others. For the majority of the book, Mother’s Younger Brother seems to have little to no direction in his life, jumping from one thing to another to occupy his time. First, he becomes obsessed with Evelyn Nesbit due to nothing more than her fame and beauty. His purpose is to somehow be with Evelyn, which he actually manages, before Evelyn realizes what Mother’s Younger Brother actually sees in her, and “hey, maybe it is a bit weird that he was hiding in a closet and stalking me earlier.” Next, Mother’s Younger ...