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 Brother takes on an identity as a revolutionary. He joins Coalhouse’s group as a bomb expert, painting his face in blackface with cork and dressing like the others in the movement. However, once he no longer has the Coalhouse group to be with, he immediately moves on to joining Mexican revolutionaries building bombs, just to again be a part of a movement and community.
Although there is a clear consistency in his later endeavors through the revolutions of Coalhouse and Pancho Villa, there is an overarching pattern we see in Mother’s Younger Brother’s actions. Whatever it is he does, he doesn’t do it in order to find an identity true to himself, but an identity dependent on others. He even mentions that he feels important that he’s become integrated into Coalhouse’s community. Even going the extra step to look like the people with whom he wants to feel a sense of community. He tries to find a place in his life, and ultimately meets a sad fate, going deaf before he is killed in battle.
I really like your point about the significance of how vague and unimportant his name is compared to other characters named by their titles. His name is literally dependent on someone else. And it's not like he couldn't be "Uncle" or someone. I think the choice to make him "Mother's Younger Brother" both highlights his dependence on others to define himself, and how almost young and lost he his at times? I don't actually know how old he is, but he always feels in his old teens or young twenties, and I think that's largely because of the presence of the words "Younger Brother" in his title. If he were to be called "Uncle", I'd envision someone older, supposedly more mature and developed.
ReplyDeleteMYB's anonymous death in Mexico could be viewed in two general ways--as a completely futile waste of life, where his effort to find "purpose" leaves him deaf and eventually dead. But we could also view his character arc as "heroic" in a sense: he sacrifices a life of complacency and comfort (managing his brother-in-law's fireworks business in middle-class New Rochelle) for one of invention and innovation (his ingenious advances in lethal war technologies) and radical activism (as he renounces his white privilege and even his white identity [to some extent] by joining the Coalhouse revolution and then the Zapatista revolution). If he "finds purpose" in this radical revolutionary identity, then that purpose could be seen as heroically fulfilled as he dies on the battlefield in the name of the cause he believes in. Like so much in this novel , it's hard to tell where the author/narrator comes down on this question, as MYB is both pathetic and somewhat principled and heroic at the end.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, brother's "fate" actually kind of sounded like his dream. He finds a cause that relies on him and is able to throw himself into the work until he goes deaf. The zapatistas even find him a bit "reckless," and though he probably would rather have not been deaf, he must have enjoyed losing himself in the work he loved.
ReplyDeleteIn a weird way, I feel like Mother's Younger Brother showed a lot of growth throughout the story. Although his actions are controversial, to say at the least, I believe that he died the way he wanted to and was content with his life. In the beginning, as you mentioned, his "purpose" in life was to stalk Evelyn Nesbit. He did not gain anything from this experience and was living in a fantasy. However, after meeting with Emma Goldman, he learns to think of ideas that are bigger than himself and joins two major revolutions. While it may seem like he was simply jumping on the bandwagon in both cases, in the end he made contributions to the community around him and died knowing that he had done something in his life.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that a running theme of desperation runs through many of the characters in Ragtime, especially the fictional ones. Mother's Younger Brother seems to fit that bill to me in that as you said, I think he depends on others, but he also seeks validation from them. I believe he was chasing assurance from Evelyn especially that he was wanted.
ReplyDeleteThe struggle that Mother's Younger Brother goes through -- trying to fit into a specific group of people, trying to find a place for himself in the world -- is a good representation of the struggle that many young adults go through. His identity is never separate from Mother's, almost like that one uncle you always hear about but never really get to know. Though it was sad that he ultimately died, I didn't feel like his death was super tragic; rather, I felt like he figured out what he wanted to do and did it in a satisfactory sort of way. Doctorow never specifies how Mother's Younger Brother felt at the end of the novel, though, so I guess we'll never know.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that for most of the book Younger Brother was quite lost, but I think towards the end he displayed quite a lot of improvement (if you can call it that). Until Coalhouse enters the story, Younger Brother's main obsession is Evelyn. His adoration of her is unhealthy (to say the least) and he certainly bases his identity around her, but in the latter part of the book, he joins Coalhouse's mission on his own volition. It's an extremely bold choice and one that he could not take back, so I think he does show a sense of self in his later decisions. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYou make many great points regarding Young Brother and his development throughout the novel. In many ways, Younger Brother represents this stereotype of many young males and generally many young adults in this society and time period. Having this sense of identity and purpose in life is super important to having any sense of content and success in life. As we can see, for most of the novel, Younger Brother doesn't really have those qualities. However, as the novel progresses, I do see Younger Brother's character and sense of individuality evolving, for better or for worse.
ReplyDeleteIt also always stood out to me was that his name was even dependent on someone else. So, in the beginning, when he was stalking Emma Goldman and Evelyn Nesbit, I was also like, "the way Doctorow refers to him makes sense, he's kinda useless". I think, though, that his death was not terrible, because he found a purpose in life, died fighting for something he was passionate about, and had a fun hobby. By then, he turned out to be one of my favorite characters. Great post!
ReplyDeleteIt’s so strange how Evelyn wasn’t weirded about by some stranger stalking her in the closet. At first, she views this obsession as attractive but thankfully, she finally realizes that Younger Brother doesn’t really value her as a person. I like how you brought up how Younger Brother’s life is guided by his needs which always depend on others. He continually moves from obsession to obsession, idealizing one thing after another. Really interesting blog!
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