The not so mysterious Harry Houdini

When I think of Harry Houdini, I think of brilliant magic tricks and supernatural forces. One second we see him locked in a casquette, the next second he's in the audience. It's very easy to see a magician of Houdini's reputation as someone larger than life. After all, his tricks and stunts make him seem inhuman. In today's day and age, most people don't know what Harry Houdini was like as a person. We simply remember him for his wacky tricks that left audiences befuddled. E. L. Doctorow provides a look into Houdini's life and personality in the Book Ragtime. In my personal opinion, Doctorow's portrayal of Houdini makes him seem more like a normal person with emotions and feelings. Doctorow is still able to recognize all the wacky stunts Houdini is able to perform, while still allowing readers to take a deeper look into his personality. Whether or not Doctorow's portrayal of Houdini is accurate, it's still interesting to see what Houdini might have been like.

Chapter 27 provides the most in depth view of Harry Houdini. On page 197, Doctorow shows Houdini only a few months after his mothers death. Houdini goes to her grave in Queens every morning. He "looked up with the swollen and laughable face of grief". Doctorow describes Houdini's suffering by saying "his mother had been dead for some months but every morning he awoke with his wound as fresh and painful is if she had died the night before". During this low point in Houdini's life, Houdini is described to look anything but the "magician of international fame." He hasn't shaved for months and has cancelled several bookings. In the second paragraph on page 198, Doctorow hints that Houdini is Jewish as he leaves small stones at his mothers grave. We get the sense that Houdini may even be suffering from depression when Doctorow says "He knew what it was to be sealed in the earth but he felt now it was the only place for him". All these factors make Houdini seem less mysterious and more realistic. 

Houdini's entire life seems to be shaped by his mother's death. Doctorrow claims Houdini putt her pictures up in his house everywhere, dreamed about her, played the music she listened to every evening, read the letters she wrote regularly. Even his career as a magician seems to change. He decides to see if it is really possible to communicate with the dead.Houdini doesn't seem like an arrogant performer in any stretch of the imagination. His tricks and stunts are impressive but he genuinely seems like a normal guy with feelings, emotions, dreams and ambitions as well. Houdini for example became interested in the idea of life after death and vowed he would discover it. He bought books and began to study mechanical physics.