Coalhouse is an extremely interesting character in Ragtime . He is a fictional character, yet is portrayed as being more real than some of the historical figures depicted in the book. The narrator speaks of his past as if it is something you could find in an encyclopedia despite his fictional status. But arguably the most interesting part of his character is the morality behind his actions. He starts an entire revolution due to the events that occurred after his encounter with the firemen. While many people say that the main motive behind his actions wasn't just his car, it can't be denied that his car does seem rather pivotal to his motives. Part of his demands has consistently been to turn over Conklin to him for his own personal justice, and the second is to have his car back in pristine condition. As a result, I feel like this affects the morality of his actions to some extent. But let's assume first that the car wasn't a motive at all. Even in that case, I would s...