Our Identities are Entirely Constructed

[I'm going to break the 4th wall for a minute (postmodernism!!) to apologize for the weird
formatting of parts of this post. I've been having some issues with Blogger and couldn't
figure out how to fix it.]

One tenet of postmodernism as described by Edward Docx is that it claims that our

identities are solely defined based on existing power structures, while at the same time

calling for a re-evaluation of these very structures. In other words, we are all

constructions, and don’t have any personality, soul, self, etc. that is inherent or unique to

us. Doctorow plays with this idea in Ragtime in several ways.

One that will be easily recognizable to other people who took 20th Century Novel

is how Doctorow uses mirrors. In the modernist fiction we read last semester--Virginia

Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises for example--

mirrors provide a way for characters to contemplate their sense of self. Clarissa

Dalloway ponders the various aspects of her identity and draws them together into a

coherent self while sitting in front of a mirror. Jake reflects on his defining injury while

standing in front of a looking glass. Doctorow gives us a very similar image when he

describes Little Boy, who develops a habit of sitting in front of a mirror, looking at himself.

However, instead of reflecting on his identity or developing a coherent sense of who he

is, Little Boy sees “two selves facing one another, neither of which could claim to be

the real one...He was no longer anything exact as a person.” (117).

Doctorow also explores this idea through the characters of Evelyn Nesbit, Harry

Houdini, and J.P. Morgan. Doctorow’s versions of all three of these historical figures

feel like they do not belong, and are dissatisfied with their lives. However, when

confronted with these identical feelings, the three characters react in very different

ways that correspond to their background and social class. Houdini, an immigrant

who has worked hard to overcome his lower class background, responds by working

even harder and redoubling his efforts to gain a reputation as an artist. Evelyn Nesbit,

whose looks have catapulted her into the upper class, but who has never had to make

a decision or think on her own has a completely different reaction and attempts to

simply escape her troubles by forcing her way into a completely different life and

family. Morgan, who is used to having the world’s treasures at his fingertips, deals

with his feelings of not belonging by developing a philosophy that draws upon the

ancient cultures whose precious items he has stolen, and that bestows upon himself

almost god-like status. These characters different reactions to identical emotions

reinforces how their “selves” are entirely constructed by the existing power structures,

and societal constraints and expectations.

There are a couple of other odd potential examples that I’m not entirely sure what

to make of. One is that many of the characters from different spheres whose worlds

collide have very similar names. For example, take Emma Goldman and Evelyn Nesbit.

Once they meet, we learn that the unlikely pair share even more similarities. Both have

a man they care about in prison. Evelyn has used her body to make a living and Emma

Goldman once tried. Particularly important is that after spending time with Goldman,

Nesbit begins to side with her on social issues and makes anonymous donations to her

cause. The similarities between these two women raise the question of whether Emma

could have been Evelyn if she had been born into different circumstances and vice versa.

I think Doctorow would say yes. The main differences between them have arisen because

of their different stations in society, and identities they constructed as a result.

The worlds of two characters with similar names collide again when Harry Houdini sees
Harry K. Thaw in the cell across from his while showing off his ability to escape from the
Tombs. The two do not develop a relationship like Emma Goldman and Evelyn Nesbit’s,
but there is a moment where the two are described as almost mirror reflections of each other. “Quickly Houdini began to dress...Across the well the prisoner began to undress” (30). This continues until “the prisoner was as naked as Houdini had been” (30). The two figures have
the same name, but are otherwise framed as opposites--Thaw is rich while Houdini is not,
Thaw undresses as Houdini dresses, Thaw is confident and mocking in contrast to Houdini’s
self-consciousness. Their names show some commonality between them, but society has
shaped them into completely different people.

These last two examples in particular might be getting to be a bit of a stretch. What do you
all think? Are they valid examples of Doctorow playing with identity and the idea that we’re
all constructions, or is it just me reading way too much into a coincidence?