Ragtime Chapter 16 Summary

  • Tateh and his daughter are living in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where Tateh makes under six bucks a week at a textile mill. Little Girl is growing up into a woman, which worries Tateh, since there is no woman there to help her.
  • There's a strike at the textile mill. Tateh and the girl starve with no money. They picket with other workers. There's violence.
  • Tateh creates posters for the marches. One night he creates a flipbook, a series of images that move like a movie when you flip the pages.
  • The strike continues. Tateh agrees to send his daughter to a safe family in Philadelphia.
  • At the train station, a police action prevents the children from leaving and a riot begins. The girl gets away. Tateh finds her onboard the train and they escape on the train to Philadelphia.