The turn of the century was a massive time of change; it came at the end of what was called the freaking Age of Invention, and right before what got to be known as the Progressive Era. Yup: squashed between invention and progress, the turn of the 20th century turned everything around.
From worker's rights to women's rights, change dominated this era. But change itself isn't the whole story. It's how the characters react to change in Ragtime that is the story. Father is lost in his own country as the role of women and African-Americans changes before his eyes, while Mother and Tateh embrace change and are carried forward by it.
Questions About Change
- Which characters in the novel seem to have the easiest time accepting change?
- What change does Evelyn Nesbit represent in American culture?
- What changes have people resisted since our own turn of the century (from the 20th to the 21st)?
- In the novel, is all change progress? Or is some change regression?
Chew on This
Had Father been born fifty years earlier, he would have been a much happier man.
Change is inherently violent, as we see in the actions of characters like Coalhouse.