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Mother
Emma Goldman is a historical character who interacts with Tateh, Evelyn Nesbit, and Mother’s Younger Brother. Goldman was an immigrant to the United States, a trained nurse, and a dedicated reformer with a passion for women’s and workers’ rights. She becomes involved in worker’s rights early in her career as an intellectual and anarchist, joining in the plot to assassinate Henry Clay Frick for his role in quashing a steelworkers’ strike in Pittsburgh in the 1890s. It’s around this time that she meets and becomes the lover of Frick’s would-be assassin, Alexander Berkman. An advocate of free love, Goldman never marries and takes a series of lovers, many of whom remain her friends and compatriots even after their affairs end. Around the time she meets Younger Brother for the second time, for example, she is involved in an affair with Ben Reitman. Goldman’s anarchist politics and public profile make her a harsh critic and frequent target of American elites and institutions. She’s frequently associated with (and incarcerated for) others’ actions, including the 1901 assassination of President McKinley and in association with Coalhouse Walker Jr.’s campaign of retributive violence against firefighters. Ultimately, the United States government revokes Goldman’s citizenship and deports her in 1919.
Emma Goldman Quotes in Ragtime
The Ragtime quotes below are all either spoken by Emma Goldman or refer to Emma Goldman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
One week later he took the girl down to the railroad station. She was in a contingent of two hundred going to Philadelphia. She was wearing a new cloak and a hat that kept her ears warm. He kept stealing glances at her. She was beautiful. She had a naturally regal posture. She was enjoying her new clothes. He was casual with her and tried not to be hurt. She had accepted the idea of leaving him without one word of protest. Of course, this was good for all concerned. But if she found it so easy, what would the future bring? She attracted people. […] Tateh was proud, but frightened too.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8
Quotes
So then Frick was able to get the government working for him and the state militia came in to surround the workers. At this point Berkman and I decided on our attentat. We would give the beleaguered workers heart. We would revolutionize their struggle. We would kill Frick. But we were in New York and we had no money. We needed money for a railroad ticket and a gun. And that’s when I put on embroidered underwear and walked 14th street. An old man gave me ten dollars and told me to go home. I borrowed the rest. But I would have done it if I had to. It was for the attentat. It was for Berkman and revolution.
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Emma Goldman Quotes in Ragtime
The Ragtime quotes below are all either spoken by Emma Goldman or refer to Emma Goldman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
One week later he took the girl down to the railroad station. She was in a contingent of two hundred going to Philadelphia. She was wearing a new cloak and a hat that kept her ears warm. He kept stealing glances at her. She was beautiful. She had a naturally regal posture. She was enjoying her new clothes. He was casual with her and tried not to be hurt. She had accepted the idea of leaving him without one word of protest. Of course, this was good for all concerned. But if she found it so easy, what would the future bring? She attracted people. […] Tateh was proud, but frightened too.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8
Quotes
So then Frick was able to get the government working for him and the state militia came in to surround the workers. At this point Berkman and I decided on our attentat. We would give the beleaguered workers heart. We would revolutionize their struggle. We would kill Frick. But we were in New York and we had no money. We needed money for a railroad ticket and a gun. And that’s when I put on embroidered underwear and walked 14th street. An old man gave me ten dollars and told me to go home. I borrowed the rest. But I would have done it if I had to. It was for the attentat. It was for Berkman and revolution.
