Addition to 2/13/08

Well, it turns out that Tateh and his daughter reappear in the story after not being heard from in awhile. I am glad Doctorow brings them back, and I believe it makes for a better ending to the story. By reuniting the two families, Doctorow foreshadows the eventual marriage of Mother and Tateh. I find this interesting because much earlier in the novel, Evelyn Nesbit seemed to be in love with Tateh and the girl, and now Mother seems to have done the same. Tateh’s change of his name is also intriguing since by adding a fictitious title to the beginning of his name, he gains much more acceptance into the world and this advances his business. The arrest of Emma Goldman is an allusion to how celebrities and other famous leaders get in trouble or are unfairly accused of causing difficulties from the public just because of their influence on their followers. Mother’s Younger Brother is a perfect example of a young American who has no real purpose or drive to his life. He spends his life moving around a lot and trying different career paths and ways to feel fulfillment. Once he joins Coalhouse and his gang, Mother’s Younger Brother feels he has found his “home” where he truly belongs. This is evident by how he paints his face and that he feels good when he fights with them and helps them make bombs. He seems to have finally found his idealistic purpose and eventually dies fighting for this principle. When Coalhouse holds up Morgan’s residence, the authorities call in Booker T. Washington and Father. Washington eventually convinces Coalhouse to stop the holdout. Washington and the authorities do not see the modification that Coalhouse made to his demands, but Father does see it. He tries to convince the people of New York that Coalhouse is somewhat reasonable, but he dies anyway in a way that seems to the reader as intentional by Coalhouse. One last thing I noticed was the reaction of Father to the baseball game. He loved watching the game with the boy but he did not like the fact that the teams were made up of mostly immigrant players. This disgust might come from a feeling that baseball is supposed to be an American game and these immigrants are not yet viewed as Americans in Father’s eyes. In today’s game, there are many baseball players that come from other countries. The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan, Mexico, etc. contribute a large number of players to Major League Baseball. I find it interesting that this point of mixing ethnic backgrounds in baseball spans the length of its history.