Time Period
In Ragtime, many of the characters and their actions can represent common viewpoints during the time period. For example, Father likely represents the traditional viewpoint coming into the Ragtime era. Mother on the other hand, represents the more progressive ideas that were new during the time period. As the time period progressed, the ideas became stronger, similar to the way she became more independent after Father's trip to the arctic. Eventually, by the end of the time period, most of the traditionally ideas die out, similar to the how Father literally dies. This correlation may be an explanation to why the novel ends so abruptly. At the beginning of the novel, there are no disturbances to the traditional viewpoint. Once Coalhouse and Sarah are introduced though, everything changes. This is when we see the effect they have on society. Their actions may kind of represent the influential social events that happened during the Ragtime Era, and th...