Ragtime
...st of society with a clear-cut example of the American Dream. Father, like president at the time, felt that his masculinity had to be continually proved. Roosevelt had ridden his masculine military victory with the Rough Riders on San Juan Hill to office; and once he was there he continued to substantiate America’s masculinity with the deployment of the great white fleet that sailed around the world. Father’s passion for exploration landed him on the North Pole but his absence brought about unprecedented changes. The actual trekking of the North Pole is directly related to the masculine and American identity associated with the American frontier that had been officially closed a little over ten years ago. But the destination of this exploration demonstrates the end of the global frontier; there was simply nowhere else for Americans to trek, explore, and conquer. The day of the imperial conquering explorer had come to a close and Father’s presence in his family and in society also began to fade. When Father returned from his expedition he was nothing more than a shell of a man. Worn down by the bitter cold of the artic winds, his homecoming divulged nothing more than the exclusion form his own house. In a world free of Negroes and Immigrants, Father walked home to find his own wife cradling a “brown baby” in her arms while the unwed Negro mother dwelled upstairs in the attic. His status as the example of the American Dream hindered him and isolated him in his own ignorance. JP Morgan, like Father, also appeared in the novel as a direct example of the American Dream. However, their fulfillment of such vague and lofty aspirations left them with hefty bankrolls but empty solitude. The fictional character of Tatah embodies the diverse appearance of society that emerges at rapid paces during this decade. The immigrant masses, mostly from Italy and Eastern Europe, that wash up upon America’s shores stands to boldly challenge the elitism that had been serving as a buffer zone between the undesirable masses and the worthy wealthy white Anglo-Saxon that had the American Dream at their disposal. Prior to this crucial period of transition, the American Dream wasn’t applicable to the majority of American citizens. With the onslaught of immigrants, like Tatah, the cultural and social selectivity of America crumbled. The intellect and perseverance of Tatah enabled him to find a way out of the lower classes of American society to the very top. His immigrant status subverts the selectivity, based on race and class, of the American Dream. As the decade and novel progress, the American Dream is transformed with the times and is eventually made available to people of all races, religions, and classes. The historical character of Emma Goldman served to express the importance of race and gender during the Ragtime era. The traditional gender roles placed upon women by male oppressors began to be challenged. This challenge provided the origins of the American women’s movement that reemerged in the 1970’s when Doctorow was writing this novel. Prior to this decade, stoutness was a characteristic of the wealthy. But when President Taft added 332 pounds to the presidency, the roundness of wealth was demystified. The result was the polar opposite of stoutness. Women were suddenly required to appear as thin as possible. Girdles and undergarments that painfully constricted the amount of body fat visible through clothing emerged as another hindrance upon women. Emma Goldman stood as a small plump orator who concealed her image with nothing more than comfortable flowing clothing and thus stood directly in opposition to the oppression of women. Goldman eventually freed Evelyn Nesbit who was living in the bondage of a girdle. The removal of that girdle was symbolic for the liberation of women, which Goldman was fighting so bitterly for, from their prescribed gender roles. The period of Ragtime was rattled with the immoral exploitation of the millions of immigrants that were pouring into America. Millions of men were unemployed and those that were able to find a job recognized the fragility of their employment. Knowing that workers could easily be replaced the emergence of labor unions was hindered. The unions that did emerge were penalized by the courts, assaulted by the police, incarcerated, and if all else failed, they would be crushed by federal troops. Emma Goldman was a potent agitator during these difficult times. She worked to connect the hopes of many poor immigrants with a feeling of togetherness and the knowledge that they can have rights in their place of work. This labor movement that popped up during this era stood to oppose the past ideology of laborers being protected by the Christian men; who had been granted control of the country’s property interests by god. Ironically, these divinely selected profiteers were also the men who formed the oil, bank, railroad, beef, and steel trusts to extract more profits from the American people. When Father returned from his expedition in the North Pole, the entire world had transformed. “At his office her was told that the seamstresses in the flag department had joined a New York union.” (Pg.92). However, after all the strikes and demonstrations little was gained. Tatah realized, after the long and violent strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts where he had been working, that this life of ill accomplishment was not for him. “The I.W.W. has won, he said. But what has it won? A few more pennies in wages. Will it now own the mills? No.” (pg.109). It was also during this time when New York’s Harlem surfaces as the Mecca for African Americans in the states....