Chapter 4

Although Chapter 4 of Mumbo Jumbo is relatively short, I thought the insight it provides about

the American 1920s and America as an entity was really interesting. The only part that I didn’t

understand at all was the very first sentence of the chapter, where Reed talks about Charlie Parker,

one of the most influential jazz musicians in American history. The sentence reads, “Charlie Parker,

the houngan (a word derived from n’gana gana) for whom there was no master adept enough to

award him the Asson, is born.” Again, I didn’t get the relevance of this sentence, so I looked into the

meanings and historical context behind some of the vocabulary used. Reed refers to Parker as a “houngan” which is basically a Voodoo priest or chief of the spirits.

This parallel seems clear enough based on the prevalence of Voodoo religion in the novel, but

learning about the “Asson” further explores the correlation between Voodoo tradition and

African American jazz culture. Generally, Asson is the ceremony where the title of priest is

bestowed upon those deemed worthy by existing an houngan. Interestingly, there is a Haitian

myth of a man named Titon, who claimed that there was no houngan great enough to give him

an asson. This is a direct parallel to Reed’s description of Charlie Parker. Another important

aspect of the story of Titon is that while he is more than qualified to become a houngan, he is

too poor to afford the ceremony. This ties into the idea that African American artists not being

acknowledged in the way that they deserved to be due to the systemic implication that they

were second class citizens.  

Source: Postmodernism and Its Others: The Fiction of Ishmael Reed, Kathy Acker, and Don
DeLillo by Jeffrey Ebbeson

Thoughts on Chapter 10

Themes of race and racism have been present from the beginning of Ragtime. The opening

paragraph of the novel contains a set of contradictory sentences, the first stating “There were

no Negroes. There were no immigrants.” (Doctorow 11) and then towards the end of the

paragraph the narrator realizes “Apparently there were Negroes. There were immigrants.”

(Doctorow 12). As the story largely follows relatively to extremely wealthy white characters,

these quotes exemplify the mindsets socio-economically privileged white people have

regarding minorities and people of color’s place and role in their lives. It’d be convenient for

black people and immigrants to just not be in the picture, but that’s not the reality and their

presence becomes an issue. How they (white people) deal with that reality has showcased

throughout the novel so far.

Of the characters, Father is definitely the most overt with his racial prejudices and clearly

racist statements. A major example of this is in Chapter 10 when the narrator writes about

Father’s expedition to the North Pole. At a certain point, Peary tells Father that Eskimos are

children

and should be treated as such and the narrator points out that “Father tended to agree with

this view, for it suggested a consensus.” (Doctorow 66). It’s interesting that Doctorow

includes that what mattered to Father was a consensus, rather than just saying he agrees with

Peary’s comments. It wouldn’t be completely out of character if he described Fathers feelings

in that manner, so it seems like Doctorow is inserting a perspective regarding the communal

and contagious nature of racism.

Matthew Henson, a black explorer, accompanied Peary on the expedition. He is incredibly

skilled as an explorer and Father even acknowledges how good he is. When Peary was trying

to decide who would actually go to the Pole with him, Henson thought that someone besides

the Eskimos should accompany Peary, and that person should be him. Father admits that

Henson’s reasoning was sound but “found himself unaccountably resenting Henson’s

presumption” (Doctorow 69). Despite all of Henson’s experience, skill, and credibility, Father

couldn’t accept Henson’s idea solely based on the fact that he’s black. In the novel, father is

described as a “decent man,” but the widespread influence of racism in America completely

normalizes his racist and prejudiced thoughts. There are many more situations in the book that

deal with similar issues, but this chapter stuck out to me.