Ragtime Essay Research Paper Up until the

Ragtime Essay, Research Paper

Up until the late 1900 s, the American populace on the whole had assumed a very optimistic view of American history. Glossing over disgraceful events, emphasizing the brighter points in our history, our culture has attempted to ignore the obvious fact that we have had, and still have, our fair share of problems. In Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow unabashedly exposes some of the worst aspects of American life in our more recent history. Doctorow doesn t hold back anything, providing detailed examples of human cruelty and sacrifice, and the evolution of American society. While critiquing American society was not the sole purpose of his novel, Doctorow does expose and examine many issues that people tended to ignore like the impoverished immigrant working class, racism, and feminism. The emphasis Doctorow places on these issues makes it clear that he thought, America is a mistake, a gigantic mistake. (33).

The period in American history at the turn of the 20th century is commonly referred as the Gilded Age. This is in reference to the increased size of the lower classes and the emergence of the elite capitalist as a new hegemonic class that possessed riches and power that were practically undreamt of. This era saw a dramatic increase in the size of the lower classes as immigrants filled the country and jobs became scarce, and a decrease in the size of the middle class. However, despite the less than ideal conditions that existed for many people in the country, middle and upper class citizens had the impression that they were in an era of prosperity. They turned a blind eye towards all the suffering and hardships of the lower class, in their perfect, ignorant world There were no Negroes. There were no immigrants (3). Doctorow recognized the dominant attitude of the times for what it was, pure ignorance, and set out in Ragtime to educate the middle and upper class about the real world and the hardships that many people have to endure.

In the beginning of the novel, the nameless family that the story revolves around has an air of purity to it. At this point in time everyone seems to be as it should be, they are well off financially, they have a normal family residing in a normal house in a normal neighborhood. The only member of the family who has any inkling of the darker times ahead is the mother who thinks to herself Yet I know these are the happy years. And ahead of us are only great disasters. (11). She is the only one who realizes that life is too idyllic to remain that way. Father s departure for the North Pole marks the beginning of what the family would have viewed as a decline in their quality of their lives. In truth however, they are merely opening their eyes to a world that is not as perfect as they had perceived. As Father s ship left the harbor, a passing immigrant ship caught his gaze and he could not remove his eyes from them. He saw Thousands of male heads in derbies. Thousands of female heads covered with shawls. It was a rag ship with a million dark eyes staring at him. Father, a normally resolute person, suddenly foundered in his soul. A weird despair seized him. (12) At the first sight of hardship in his sheltered life, Father finds himself not knowing what to do, or to feel. He has never seen such poverty at such a close distance, and its very existence causes him to feel afraid almost. In the following chapter, Doctorow proceeds to speak of the immigrants: They were filthy and illiterate. They stank of fish and garlic. They had running sores. They had no honor and worked for next to nothing. They stole. They drank. They raped their own daughters. They killed each other casually. (13) Father s unnerving brush with poverty leaves him stricken with hopelessness and a feeling of despair. Yet even then, the family had not witnessed the full truth of the lives of the impoverished immigrants. Doctorow then proceeds to describe in harsh, uncensored terms the reality of the situation. Doctorow s disgust with American society was exemplified through this harsh examination of the life of immigrants.

Another issue that comes up in the novel as an issue that deserves addressing, is that of racism. America has always been a sort of beacon to the oppressed peoples of the world, and in serving that role has accepted immigrants from all across the globe. Many people have said that America is a nation of immigrants, since virtually all of her citizens have a lineage that did not originate here. Therefore, one would think that since America is composed of such a racially diverse population that racism would not be such a problem. The people would have recognized that they are all part of a crazy quilt of humanity! (16) as Jacob Riis referred to his color-coded map for the ethnic divisions in Manhattan. But the truth is that racism still existed, indeed, it was much more of a prominent issue in this country. There was racism towards immigrants, towards blacks, towards the Irish, there was racism from the Irish to other immigrants. In hoping to expose the racist attitudes of America, Doctorow exposes the unnamed family to the man Coalhouse Walker Jr.

Coalhouse Walker Jr. was a fine gentleman. In his visits to the family s house to speak to Sarah he was courteous and respectful, yet he did not debase himself or sacrifice his pride. It was the very fact that Coalhouse Walker Jr. seemed to able to transform the customary deference