Sophia, History as Fiction

Like with most main characters, readers connect and support Dana throughout her trials and tribulations in Antebellum South. Dana is clearly a good person, attempting to survive in a new environment in which she has little to no experience. Yet, Dana is still a flawed character, as the best characters often are. One of her many flaws is her pride.  Dana has always considered herself special around Rufus (at least compared to the other slaves). She tells the readers time and time again “if he ever raped me, it wasn’t likely that either of us would survive” (180). Although she doesn’t have a choice, Dana is the one that has to tell Alice to get raped and sexually abused by Rufus. She lets it happen, thinking only of self-preservation, and doesn’t even think to try to limit the abuse that Alice is taking from Rufus. Dana instead acts lofty, scoffing at the idea of being raped by Rufus, while Alice has to go through this personal invasion daily. Dana doesn’t even try to sympathize wi...

       Berbelang, Fuentes, and Yellow Jack are all involved in an elaborate scheme to take art pieces from different museums and return them to the cultures they were stolen from. To them, the “art” is actually important relics in religious rituals, and their end goal is to reawaken lost spirits and deities. So, it is wrong of them to be taking these pieces?       From one point of view, yes, taking these art pieces is wrong. Museums are meant to spread information to the general public and introduce them to different civilizations in the world. By taking certain art pieces away, people are not exposed to as many different artistic styles and have a narrower sense of what art is. Less well-known cultures become even more obscure than before. Museums also rely on the art pieces to bring people in and fund their employees. Removing the art suddenly reduces the revenue, and could cause a small museum to close down. In addition, it is stealing. Even i...

Leaving behind the socialist movement was an important moment for Tateh. At the beginning of the book, he was disdainful of the rich, scorning at the white houses. However, after taking part in the strike, he realized that even if workers could win strikes, they would still live in poverty, still no more than slaves to the companies and machines. Though this could be construed as giving up and giving in to the capitalist owners, Tateh did the right thing by leaving socialism. His love for his daughter was his motivation throughout the book, and all he wanted to do was to make a good living for her. Turning to capitalism gave her the best outcome. However, by changing his entire way of viewing the world, he also needed to change his name to Baron Ashkenazy. This seemingly small change leaves a big mark: Baron Ashkenazy is a new character, not a continuation of one. The old Tateh has died, and he is left in an intermediate stage of Tateh/ Baron Ashkenazy.  After deciding he no longer...

When we are first introduced to Evelyn Nesbit in Ragtime , we learn “she had grown up playing in the streets of a Pennsylvania coal town” (Doctorow, 26), and by marrying Thaw, her mother’s “greediest dreams of connived wealth [Evelyn] had surpassed” (22). Historically, we also know that she was only about 16 when she met Stanford White and later married Henry Thaw. So, Evelyn Nesbit has never truly been independent, she has always had some external force controlling her.  Nesbit has grown to appreciate being reliant, which has been greatly determined by her constant subjugation. When Mother’s Younger Brother was following her, she was “not intimidated by his attention but protected.” (46). She has been so mistreated by both White and Thaw that although she loves Mother’s Younger Brother, “she wanted someone who would treat her badly and whom she could treat badly” (89), indicating, she would prefer an abusive relationship to a healthy, boring relationship. Nesbit’s connections with...