Narrator in Ragtime
What does the narrator think? How does doctorow express his views on historical events with his formation of the narrator? These are some of the questions that I wish to answer with this blog. The character of the narrator was one of the most intriguing and interesting elements of the book to me; the layers of irony were at times annoying, but definitely satisfying to peel back and examine. First I'll look at chapter one of the book, specifically the first paragraph in which Doctorow boldly exerts his striking writing style and throws an avalanche of stuff at the reader. Just the first paragraph of this book deserves a long and thorough blog post, but for this blog I’ll focus on the narrator element and keep it brief. Doctorow starts by describing the family’s house, then the season, the culture of the early 1900’s, the entertainment scene, a few of the family members, a description of the Evelyn Nesbit’s scandal and those involved in it, and a confession from the narrator....