Both Mumbo Jumbo and Ragtime use history to add to the realness of their texts. In Ragtime, Doctorow uses "false documents" that likely aren't true but for the most part can't be disproven to fill in the gaps of real history used in his book. For instance, he depicts J. P. Morgan talking to a seagull in a bout of loneliness, something that cannot be proven nor disproven. Moments like this make Ragtime feel real. Mumbo Jumbo takes place around the ragtime period as well, and during the Harlem Renaissance. Jes Grew is an anti-plague that spreads dancing and liveliness, a metaphor for the spread of black culture. The novel identifies things like ragtime and jazz as elements of Jes Grew, but Jes Grew's origins go back thousands of years. Reed uses what I presume to be (mostly) real Egyptian mythology and mumbo jumbo lore as actual history in Mumbo Jumbo. By using African history/mythology to set the novel, Reed accomplishes multiple things: he creates an Afroce...
Holden is obsessed with not being "phony". He gets ticked off anytime he catches a whiff of phoniness, but he takes it so far that he feels surrounded by phonies. To not be a phony in Holden's eye leaves almost no room for being part of the adult world. One thing that annoyed me is when Holden criticized Ernie for being too good at the piano. The way he described it, Ernie really did sound like a prick, but the idea that I didn't like was when he said "If I were a piano player, I'd play it in the goddam closet" (84). He rejects the idea of being good at something to get attention from other people. As a pianist, I enjoy playing for myself as well, but I also like sharing what I've learned with my friends, and I don't like his view on that. It isn't wrong to want others to see what you've accomplished. Holden also dislikes the actors in the Lunts for being show-offy, saying, "If you do something too good, then, after a while...
The circumstances have changed. I feel it is necessary to let you, the readers, know that I can no longer in good conscience continue blogging about the 20th century. I have decided to shift the focus of my enthusiasm to the "Coming of Age" novel. I hope that you, the readers, will continue to support my blog in the new direction it is going. Thank you. All subsequent posts from this blog will be for the class "The Coming of Age Novel".
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