LaBas' View

    Today in class, we were talking about how Mumbo Jumbo is like a detective novel, with Papa LaBas being the detective. It becomes confusing as to who the bad guy is, because Hinckle seems to be a likely choice, but his end is surprisingly anticlimactic. Another possibile villain is Atonism. I would argue, however, that LaBas is not fighting Atonism. It seems to me that LaBas sees all subcultures (eg. Atonism, Haitian religion, etc.) as merely parts of one huge culture that is the sum of everything. He tries to emulate this "all-culture" through the Mumbo Jumbo Kathedral, combining all of the mystical beliefs that he can find. This also leads me to believe that LaBas is very tolerant of all religious views, and so would not want to harm Atonism. In stopping Hinckle, he is merely acting out of defense for cultures, but he does not try to harm Atonism. I would go so far as to claim that if Atonism was in danger, LaBas would work to keep it alive.
    Obviously, Atonism does not was LaBas and any of the religions he sponsors to survive. I think that is the key difference between Ancient African beliefs and Atonistic Western ones in Mumbo Jumbo: the Africans believe in tolerance and the Atonists in intolerance. LaBas, who represents African religious beliefs, is very tolerant in the book. When he wants something to change, he does not push against what is currently happening (as the Atonists do) but he gently directs things and events towards what he wants, without disturbing much. Throughout this all he remains calm. These characteristics are displayed clearly in the epilogue. LaBas is completely content to have students walk out on him, tolerant of their wishes and views of disinterest. Even when some guy starts yelling at him and being obnoxious and whatnot, LaBas just calmly nudges him away with his car, without getting all worked up about it. All of these things are the exact opposite of how the Atonists would react. Interestingly, although LaBas is the protagonist (I think maybe) of Reed's novel, Reed seems to view tolerance with derision. He wants abrupt social change, and fights for it. I'm not sure what exactly to make of this, so if anyone has any thoughts they would be very welcome.

Tateh, Houdini, and Doctorow's relationships with them

While we were reading Ragtime, I did not realize the extent to which Tateh parallels Houdini throughout the novel. Houdini and Tateh have many parallels, many of which are very obvious, such as them both being immigrants who manage to greatly improve their living situations. I was really struck with one more very important connection between them during the panel presentations, when thinking about how Houdini interacts with the miner who survived (escaped) a disaster. It struck me that Tateh underwent a very similar situation in the aftermath of the strike. After the strikers and their parents had been attacked, everything was in chaos, and everyone was injured or dead. Despite all of this, Tateh managed to barely escape onto the train with his daughter, and was the only person to manage this. In that one scene, Tateh manages to do what Houdini yearns for, which is to make an escape that matters.
Towards the end of the novel, Doctorow writes about Houdini with growing irony, which I believe is in response to Houdini's self-perception in which nothing he does really matters. He seems plagued by self-doubt, continuously pushing his limits further and further in an attempt to do something that he sees as meaningful. Meanwhile, Tateh has managed to escape unscathed (or at least without any lasting scars) from many a stifling situation. He repeatedly just up and leaves his residence and goes somewhere new, leaving his fate to fate, if you will. By doing this, Tateh manages to perform the truly meaningful escapes that Houdini strives for, and he does so without any conscious desire to do so. Tateh obviously wants to have his life improve, but I do not get the impression that he worries about his struggles overly much. And that lack of worry may be why he succeeds where Houdini fails. Both in that Tateh manages to escape (his self-doubt, despair, and worry) and that he is left untouched by Doctorow's biting irony. I might be merely projecting my own thoughts onto Doctorow, but I think that he allows Tateh to flourish because Tateh does not worry about not flourishing.