Ragtime seems to carry all the traits of a postmodernist novel. Many of these characteristics we have discussed in class, such as the manipulation of historical characters and events - examples being Houdini and Ford. This leads to the following question - are these characters the same as their real-life counterparts, or are they completely different people? In essence, where do they fall in terms of being history or fiction? As an example, let's examine Ford. We know for a fact that Ford existed in real life, and he shares many of the same characteristics of Ford in the novel. In fact, he shares enough similarities and the time period is similar enough for most people to claim they are the same person. However, his meeting with Morgan is not something that is documented in history. It almost certainly did not happen. So one could claim that these are not the same people, and that the Ford of the novel is a separate character who shares many of the same attributes as the re...