Friday, January 20, 2012

Sarah

I've been very intrigued with the character Sarah. When we first met her, she was basically only a tool for Mother for her own selfish gains, mainly the child; Mother didn't pay much attention to her. Only when Coalhouse Walker comes around  and she realizes Sarah will have to be actively apart of the relationship if this romance is going to happen does she start to interact with her more. As far as her role in the novel, she only really serves as the vehicle for Coalhouse to enter the story. I didn't really think much at first of Doctorow skimming over Sarah so quickly and shoving her in an attic. However, after reading how she left the house and tried to talk to the Vice President to plead on Coalhouse's behalf  then ends up getting killed, I was kind of surprised and a little disappointed because that meant that we wouldn't get to learn more about her since Doctorow killed her off so soon.

I mean if you think about it, she's much more interesting than many of the characters such as Younger Brother, and Doctorow devotes a lot of time talking about him. Sarah gets pregnant by a well-to-do pianist who is much older than she is (and we don't even know if it was consensual or not) then bites the cord and tries to bury the child, and is caught. That's some crazy shit. And we have no idea why she did any of it, or the complications of her and Coalhouse's relationship. I was also surprised that no one in the family even really tried to learn about Sarah. She's living in their house, you'd think they'd ask her where she came from or something, if nothing more than for peace of mind to know that they didn't just let some crazy delinquent into their house. Even Mother, who strikes me as a busybody, doesn't try to get the scoop even though she's the one who invited them in in the first place. It seems to me like there was a really interesting story right there, but Doctorow kind of buries it under everything else that's happening, and we don't get to hear any of it.

2 comments:

Marie said...

I too was disappointed that Doctorow did now flesh out Sarah's story more. She is a very interesting character and I would have liked to know more of her tale. Her role in the novel does seem to be merely a vehicle for Coalhouse to enter the equation. Although Sarah is a fictional character of Doctorow's creating, I feel like he does not do her justice.
If this were fishing, Sarah would be like the hook that the fish unknowingly bites thinking there is a worm but then realizes that said worm was actually a fake plastic bate. By that point, the fish is already caught.

Sarah Ann said...

I think you're very right; it would be interesting to know more about Sarah's backstory because Coalhouse is such a huge part of the story and she somehow became connected to Coalhouse in the beginning. I think someone mentioned in class that in the musical production of Ragtime, the creators fleshed Sarah's story out a little more. But I also think that in some ways it allows the reader to come up with their own history for Sarah, which can also be fun.