Is Coalhouse too confident?

       Is Coalhouse too confident? Is it wrong for a black man to have his head held high? Is it wrong to for black man to not be intimidated by a white male? The answer to this is yes; it is off-putting to see a strong black male. Coalhouse is a black man in the novel Ragtime who was a pianist, the fiancé of Sarah, and someone who simply wanted respect. 

    In chapter twenty-three, after seeing his fiancé, Sarah, Coalhouse is driving on a road that he always drives on and is stopped by the volunteers. The volunteers claim Coalhouse has to pay a toll that he has never had to pay in the past. After seeking the help of a police officer, Coalhouse comes back to his car to see it have human poop all over it. Additionally, there was a hole in the back of the car. Of course, Coalhouse wanted justice for his car and was sent to jail. 

    Later in the novel, in chapter twenty-five, his fiancé, Sarah, dies. Sarah was trying to reach the President of the United States when she was attacked by a member of the secret service. Sarah got pneumonia and died the same week. She also  got arrested and was in jail for a night until they realized she need to see a doctor.

    After all these events transpire in the novel, anger sparks inside of Coalhouse. Coalhouse's rage is so great that he becomes a vigilante; he goes around the town and sets firehouses on fire. He continues to do this until his car is restored. In the end, Coalhouse's car does get restored, but he never sees it. He dies a brutal death being gunned down by the people who are supposedly serve fair justice to everyone. 

Comments

  1. Lukas PerdekampFebruary 16, 2022 at 12:29 PM

    Great post! I like how in the first paragraph you ask the questions in a manner of a critical person of the time period, and even maybe today. I also like how you provided a description of what was happening in the novel to get the reader engaged.

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  2. LiliFebruary 18, 2022 at 9:09 PM

    Good post! I liked that you gave context to the reader and allowed them to think about the broader question. Coalhouse is such an interesting character, and upon first glance its almost impossible to predict all of his actions to follow.

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  3. AnuprovaFebruary 18, 2022 at 9:54 PM

    Nice post! Your analysis of Coalhouse's desire for respect and the reactions it causes in the other characters sums up the main conflict in the story really well. Coalhouse is introduced as an extremely confident character from the get-go, which is apparent in his attempts to reconnect with Sarah. At no point does he lose his sense of self-confidence in front of Mother and her family. He holds his head high and respectfully asks for what he wants. At the end of the day, all he wants is for society to respect him as another human being. This is why he is so deeply hurt by the destruction of his car. Rather than being sad about the fate of the car, he is upset at the disrespect he receives simply because of the color of his skin.

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