Isabel's HAF blog

When Dana first meets Rufus, she still has hope for him. He's undeniably a product of his time, but could he be different from Tom Weylin? Better, perhaps? But as time wears on, Rufus bears a closer and closer resemblance to Tom. Both are temperamental, cruel, and wield their power mercilessly. They still have some key differences, though. Tom's management is impersonal and calculated, but (partially because of this detachment) he's also as fair as a slave owner can be, by Rufus' own admission. On page 136, Butler writes "'He won't whip you for following my orders. He's a fair man.' I looked at him, startled. 'I said fair,' he repeated. Not likable.'" Rufus, on the other hand, is more impassioned, and he forms close relationships with the slaves... but that only makes him all the more reckless and dangerous. At first glance, Rufus seems like a more human, less despicable character than his father. Doesn't he love Alice, at the v...

There is only a handful of named white characters in Mumbo Jumbo , the majority of whom act as antagonists: most notably Hinckle Von Vampton, an immortal, almost cartoonishly evil Templar Knight; Hubert Gould, Vampton’s lackey; and Biff Musclewhite, a ruthless mercenary. At first, Thor Wintergreen, the white son of a wealthy tycoon, seems like one of the few exceptions. Thor styles himself as something of a revolutionary when he joins the Mu'tafikah , a group dedicated to stealing artifacts acquired through Western imperialism from museums and returning them to their rightful owners. When his motivations as a white man are questioned, Thor protests vehemently, telling Berbelang “Look, I was sincere when I volunteered for this. I wasn’t just another 1. Up there slumming. I just don’t think that I am of much help… if it’s going to cause this much dissension. I mean Yellow Jack and Fuentes. I feel out of place, the remarks about my father.  I’m not my father, can’t they understand? (R...

If the first 39 or so chapters of Ragtime filled in the blanks like a crossword puzzle—each little piece fitting neatly into place—the final chapter filled in the blanks like a game of Mad Libs. It wasn’t badly written, but compared to the other chapters I found it deeply unsatisfying. This is perhaps best exemplified by the final few lines of the book, where Doctorow writes “The anarchist Emma Goldman had been deported. The beautiful and passionate Evelyn Nesbit had lost her looks and fallen into obscurity. And Harry K. Thaw, having obtained his release from the insane asylum, marched annually at Newport in the Armistice Day parade. (336)” I can just imagine him, holed up in his office, with the deadline for his manuscript looming over his head. “You know what?” he says. “Screw it. I’m just going to make up something random.” Of course, these were real historical figures, the events he described were anything but random, but it still feels like they were. His typically meticulous att...

     On page 35 of Ragtime , Doctorow introduces Freud with the passage,  “Of course Freud's immediate reception in America was not auspicious. A few professional alienists understood his importance, but to most of the public he appeared as some kind of German sexologist, an exponent of free love who used big words to talk about dirty things. At least a decade would have to pass before Freud would have his revenge and see his ideas begin to destroy sex in America forever.”  When I first read this, I assumed that Freud would become an important character in the story—perhaps he would analyze the characters’ relationships for the readers’ convenience. Instead, Emma Goldman—probably the last person I would expect to find doling out relationship advice to socialites and their jilted ex-lovers—steps in to fill this role. She makes explicit the cynicism towards traditional monogamy that is hinted at throughout the text.      When Stanford White is kille...