“She picked it up and shook it. He heard the works inside rattling and flinched toward it. She jerked it out of reach and threw it, threw it hard at  the wall.” (Doctorow 250)

How does art and media effect the way we react to situations? Makers is packed with plot and plot twists, and the plot moves very fast. This seems to mean that sometimes characters act more abrasively than is natural. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, it is simply a device Doctorow uses. But does this have any correlation to people progressively becoming more melodramatic? We blame soap operas and reality shows — that’s an easy accusation — but what if subtle applications of plot progressions (like the ones Doctorow uses) are just as easily mistaken for a reflection of reality, and just as detrimental to our collective disposition?