Mother’s Younger Brother’s transformation from a fictional to a historical-like character
Doctorow follows a rather simple pattern of characterization by using names for actual historical figures (Emma Goldman, Houdini, etc.) and explicitly not naming the fictional ones (e.g ‘The Little Boy’). (This obviously comes with the exception of Coalhouse Walker.) Mother’s Younger Brother falls into the latter category- he’s a somewhat odd character introduced at the beginning of the novel. Besides the fact that he is referred to as “Mother’s Younger Brother” (literally defined solely by his relation to another character), he is depicted in a fictional-like light throughout the beginning and middle of the novel. Doctorow describes MYB’s actions in great detail and states the events regarding him with certainty. For example, when describing MYB’s frequent trips to New York for Broadway shows, Doctorow states that “He would work at his drawing table past the dinner then catch the evening train. He had made friends of some ordnance officers on duty at the armory on Lexington Avenue