Younger Brother is so Gen Z (but also not?)
From the beginning, Younger Brother has always given me a teenager-type vibe. He's quirky and is figuring out his place in life. He knows all the new trends and is well-informed in pop culture (his knowledge of ragtime music, his Evelyn Nesbit poster, etc.). He's also quite opinionated when it comes to social issues, as we saw in the argument between him and Father about the morality of Coalhouse Walker's actions. He fits the mold of a Gen Z kid today, while Father is the perfect example of a Boomer/Gen X. I suppose this connection isn't super mind-blowing since generational differences is a phenomenon that has occurred for a long time and isn't exclusive to the 21st century, but the point is that this pattern exists across Ragtime and in our modern-day.
When looking at Younger Brother's character development, we notice the "coming-of-age" trope. He starts off with no purpose in his life, wandering around the City looking for something to do. His character resembles a kid who doesn't know what to do with his life. But, we watch as Younger Brother gains clarity after meeting with Emma Goldman. He becomes focused and realizes a path he wants to take. He finds a passion, albeit in making explosives, but it's a passion nonetheless.
Now, you may be wondering: wouldn't the Little Boy (Younger Brother's nephew) be more Gen Z than Younger Brother, since he's the youngest? I say no. The Little Boy is more like the generation after Gen Z (Gen Alpha?). We don't see any growth in his character. He's just a person that's in the story. He reminds me of a Gen Alpha kid because they're still super young and have yet to get to the age where they can formulate their own opinions. Little Boy just watches as the world moves around him and doesn't think to make sense of it, or at least, not as much as Younger Brother does.
I know Younger Brother is in his early 20s, so it might be weird to think of his story as "coming-of-age," but I don't think any Gen Z kid today thinks of people in their early 20s as having their lives set. In that sense, he's well ahead of the game. He figures out that he wants to be involved in revolutionary ideals, wherever that be.
This brings me to my dilemma. Younger Brother isn't Gen Z. Sure, he might believe in things that are radical to the older generation, but his actions do not align with what a Gen Z person today would do. Take, for example, the blackface. This action is super problematic and would definitely not stand today. Also, the encounter with Evelyn in the hotel closet. If he exhibited that behavior today, people would not be on his side. Looking at Younger Brother through a modern lens really shakes up this analogy. He is radical for his time period, but he is not modern.
I certainly do not agree with all of Younger Brother's actions, but in some aspects, he's one of the more relatable characters in Ragtime. He has an inner urge to challenge authority and society and spends his whole (quite short) life doing just that.
There are definite coming-of-age vibes around Doctorow's depiction of MYB: I didn't want to get into it in class, but readers of James Joyce's foundational bildungsroman _A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man_ will recognize the angsty misunderstood young man ("he was thought to be having trouble finding himself") stalking the grey seashore shouting his pain to the unforgiving winds--this setting in Long Island mirrors Joyce's Stephen Dedalus on the seashore in Dublin, around this same time. There are also echoes of T. S. Eliot's J. Alfred Prufrock, with his "trousers rolled" on the sands.
ReplyDeleteThere definitely would have seemed something contemporary about this character to Doctorow's readers--as we'll see, there's another white guy who attaches himself to a minority cause in _Mumbo Jumbo_, and this issue of white participation in radical causes was very much a live issue in the late 1960s/1970s. I do take issue with your conflation of "Boomer/Gen X" as one category, though. As a solid Gen-Xer myself, I would argue that my generation defined itself almost entirely in reaction against "Boomer" culture (i.e. the Baby Boomer generation, i.e. my parents, who were born in 1945 and 1947), and we have more in common with milennials and whatever they're calling you-all. I'll spare you the full rant, but be careful with conflations like this--Boomers and "Gen X" have almost nothing in common, culturally, and they totally viewed us as the end of civilization (just as we view you).
The differences between Mother's Younger Brother and everyone else in the story do a really good job of highlighting generational differences of the era of Ragtime. Your comparison of him to Gen Z seems pretty accurate and Father is definitely the boomer of his time. I also really like Mother as the example of being on the boundary between generations. While certainly not as radical as her brother, she is much more radical than Father, who is older than her. Overall great post!
ReplyDeleteI really like the connections you draw to generational differences we see today with Father and MYB. I completely agree that Father is the boomer and MYB is Gen Z. As you mention, we wouldn't support many of MYB's actions today, but I think in the context of the time, his determination and activism towards the causes he supports is something that many people in our generation could relate to. Great post!
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