One interesting theme in Ragtime that I see some correlation to today’s world is when you change your name to “better fit society.” We see this with Harry Houdini, who changed his name to fit in more, which works because we somewhat associate him with living the American Dream. But also as a reader I still think of him as the complete opposite, and the scene when he was escaping the cell adjacent to Harry K. Thaw really reminded me of that. On one side, you have the guy who is supposed to be living a good life (especially with his wealth inherited, so he didn’t have to work hard for it) but instead gets himself locked up, and the other side reflects an immigrant who had to work hard and push his way up. By Harry Houdini changing his name, he gives himself a stage name that he uses to integrate himself into society and build his life up from there.
Most immigrant parents will often continue to give their children names that are common in their home country. That usually results in names that are hard to pronounce for people who don’t speak the native language, and especially at school the name getting butchered up. Take me for example, my name is Raneem and in the “American” it’s pronounced with a soft r sound, but it’s actually supposed to have a rougher, single-tongue-rolled r sound. Although my name occasionally gets butchered up, there are no unfamiliar letters that cause people to pronounce it in an unrecognizable way. For example, one of the most common names in the world is Muhammad, and although it’s well-known, most people don’t say it the correct way because the deep sound hha is not part of the alphabet, so its unfamiliar. This leads to many Muhammads shortening their name to Moe or Hamad to make it more convenient for themselves and others and to fit in.
In Ragtime, we see this type of transformation from Tateh, who changes his name to be Baron Ashkenazy. Afterwards, he feels like he “fits in society” and gets remarried to Mother and gets a job at a company. This shows he leaves behind his immigrant identity and having this “stage name” is more convenient because he’s not as different in society and therefore can fit in more. I honestly think that it’s a sad trend that someone’s name can determine whether or not they are a normal member in society. We see this in Tateh and Harry Houdini when Ragtime was released in the 70’s, and it’s still something that is relevant to today’s world.
I agree with your point about immigrants "fitting in" with American society, and I can also relate to your point about immigrants and names. I think it is still relevant today, but I think there is usually less pressure to fit in. Compared to the 1970's, strains of multiculturalism and religious pluralism have become more mainstream, leading to less pressure to "assimilate."
ReplyDeleteThis could be insignificant, but Houdini changing his name to "Harry" and later meeting Harry K. Thaw is kind of ironic. It is almost as if the new immigrant is adjusting to be on the same terms as the old white elite. At the end of the novel, Tateh embracing his status as an immigrant could be symbolic of a more modern era. His multicultural family structure and film idea could be reminiscent of this.
My own parents realized that my Chinese name would be extremely confusing in America, so I was given the middle name "Peter" at birth. Unfortunately, teachers have always tried to call me by my first name "Ziyu" when they first met me, and since English doesn't use the same accents from Chinese, it always gets butchered. It's interesting how other cultures have the exact same problem, with their native sounds being unavailable in English.
ReplyDeleteAmerican ideas about multiculturalism are so confusing and contradictory. On the one hand, America prides itself on being a cultural "melting pot", but the melting really just means assimmilation to WASPy norms. This is especially evident in naming: so many immigrants have had their names chopped or re-spelled in order to fit American standards. For example, my family's last name used to be Kapschitz but they had to change it to Kaplan when they arrived in America. To be honest, I'm sort of glad that my name doesn't have the "schitz" part anymore, but it's still an example of Anglicizing one's name and identity in order to assimilate.
ReplyDeleteI think it's also interesting that the change there is to Kaplan, which, like "the Baron Ashkenazy", is actually a dead giveaway of cultural and ethnic origin. In fact, it's a giveaway to the same origin. I have my father's last name, but my mom's is Kaganovsky, which comes from the same eventual source of the priestly caste.
DeleteBut my mom also changed her name, in some less obvious ways. If you compare her Russian and American passports, the Russian has an entire additional section to her name, as well as a different ending on her last name. Her American passport lacks the patronymic entirely, as well as the gendered ending on the surname. Even these minor details, different expressions of the exact same name, have caused trouble with officials who cannot understand why the names might differ in the slightest.
I understand this one really well. My mom also tweaked her name a little and so this caused some trouble because officials couldn't understand why there were two different names on my mom's Nigerian and american passports.
DeleteI think that the scene you bring up in the jail is a great representation of this idea. As Keshav mentioned in his comment, it's ironic that both Houdini and Thaw are both named Harry and as you say, Houdini, the immigrant escapes his cell, while Thaw is still in prison. These two can also be compared by their actions in the prison. Houdini is trying to escape, and succeeds. Thaw on the other hand utilizes his wealth and lives lavishly in his cell and almost has more control over the guards than the guards have over him. While Thaw may be wealthier and can live lavishly, he is still trapped, whereas Houdini is free to pursue his American Dream
ReplyDeleteI agree with you too, often immigrants change their names to sound less foreign and fit in more. Tateh becoming well off after having changing his name really proves this point of "if you want to be successful you have to fit in". Often the standards you need to fit in too are determined by white people. My name also gets mispronounced & I've gotten into the habit of changing how I say it when introducing myself so that it's easier for them to say it, which is kinda sad.
ReplyDeleteThere is a long history of immigrants changing their names to "fit in" in America. Way back in the early 20th century during the peak in immigration to the US, a lot of immigrants changed their last names to be more "American". Many people were forced to change their names at places like Ellis Island. So this was quite common during this time period, as Doctorow shows through the characters of Houdini and Tateh.
ReplyDeleteI definitely can see the perspective of changing names to assimilate to another culture, but I want to propose an alternative theory to the name changing. I think the name changes could also be them separating their past from their current lives. Tateh has become successful and wealthy, would someone poor be a baron? Probably not. He has moved to a new stage of his life and decided to change his name with that. Ashkenazy isn't exactly American so it doesnt seem like he is just trying to fit in. That said, Harry Houdini follows more down the line of not wanting to draw attention to his cultural background, which supports your argument. Either way, multiculturalism is an interesting issue both back then and in the present.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this book had a very good (if not subtle) of the whole "melting pot" American diversity ("diversity") idea, which, if I'm remembering correctly, first came into use during this time period. Changing one's name is, more often than not, a method of identity concealment and/or an attempt to encourage fluidity. I think this idea can apply not just to Tateh and Houdini, but Coalhouse and his followers (who all call themselves Coalhouse) as well. Michael Kohlhaas was adopted to Coalhouse Walker to fit in with the era of this book (and also his ragtime player status), and his followers all adopted the name Coalhouse, to, in a way, adopt a new identity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I think that it really is a sad trend that someone's name can cause and I think most people who are not from Anglo-Saxon countries share in these experiences which cause many people to just give up and its like they are leaving a part of themselves behind
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to this. I remember in elementary school when I tried to get people to call me by my middle name Kristen so I could fit in with the rest of my friends even though the name Minji isn't all that hard to pronounce (in the americanized pronunciation). Now, I'm very glad that I kept going by my first name because I'm proud of identity as a Korean-American.
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