In Ragtime, E. L. Doctorow introduces two notable characters who existed in real life: J. P Morgan and Henry Ford. J. P Morgan is described as an extremely successful financier. Doctorow states that he was “a man born to extreme wealth who by dint of hard work and ruthlessness multiplies the family fortune till it is out of sight." (Doctorow 138). He is portrayed as the embodiment of upper class capitalism - making money off of a lot of money.
On the other hand, Henry Ford is an up and coming businessman who has achieved great success selling cars. He was born a poor farmer, and worked his way to wealth. He is seen as the embodiment of the capitalistic “American Dream” - working one's way up to a higher class.
With the extreme contrast between these characters, Doctorow depicts an interesting scene where J.P Morgan invites Henry Ford to talk with him at his residence in New York City, having heard of his recent business success. Throughout this interaction, Ford challenges Morgan’s authority and rejects his “high class” ideas. Morgan has a nose which is extremely afflicted and bulbous. Morgan notes that “he [Ford] gazed frankly at the Morgan nose,” unlike others who were intimidated by Morgan’s stare (Doctorow 145). When Ford talks to Morgan, he uses short, vulgar sentences like, “There goes your theory up shits creek.”, challenging Morgan’s more flamboyant prose. Lastly, when Morgan shares with Ford his theory of reincarnation, which he learned from buying expensive artifacts and traveling the world, Ford recommends him “An Eastern Fakir’s Eternal Wisdom,” a 25-cent book that he claims taught him the same concepts. In the end, Morgan loses his pride: Doctor paints him as, “[sitting] back in his chair. The blood drained from his face and his eyes lost their fierce light. When he spoke, it was with the weak voice of an old man.”
By depicting Ford successfully challenging Morgan on his “high class” authority, Doctorow challenges upper-class capitalism’s pride. He is playing into the Postmodernist idea that every idea is equal. In his interpretation, there is no difference between Ford’s cheap book and Morgan’s legendary mummy. After all, they both instill the same idea.
But, Doctorow doesn't just mock upper-class capitalism - he also mocks Ford. He describes a certain scene where Ford was happy, stating that "He [Ford] allotted sixty seconds on his pocket watch for a display of sentiment" (Doctorow 136). This machine-like portrayal reflects Doctorow's critique of the capitalist system on the lower class, turning them into machines in the workforce. He literally describes Ford's factory invention, having each worker do one task so their "mental capacities would not be taxed" (Doctorow 135). Doctorow makes the argument that capitalism dehumanizes the lower class.
Through Ford and Morgan's meeting, Doctorow mocks capitalism and the upper class.
With the extreme contrast between these characters, Doctorow depicts an interesting scene where J.P Morgan invites Henry Ford to talk with him at his residence in New York City, having heard of his recent business success. Throughout this interaction, Ford challenges Morgan’s authority and rejects his “high class” ideas. Morgan has a nose which is extremely afflicted and bulbous. Morgan notes that “he [Ford] gazed frankly at the Morgan nose,” unlike others who were intimidated by Morgan’s stare (Doctorow 145). When Ford talks to Morgan, he uses short, vulgar sentences like, “There goes your theory up shits creek.”, challenging Morgan’s more flamboyant prose. Lastly, when Morgan shares with Ford his theory of reincarnation, which he learned from buying expensive artifacts and traveling the world, Ford recommends him “An Eastern Fakir’s Eternal Wisdom,” a 25-cent book that he claims taught him the same concepts. In the end, Morgan loses his pride: Doctor paints him as, “[sitting] back in his chair. The blood drained from his face and his eyes lost their fierce light. When he spoke, it was with the weak voice of an old man.”
By depicting Ford successfully challenging Morgan on his “high class” authority, Doctorow challenges upper-class capitalism’s pride. He is playing into the Postmodernist idea that every idea is equal. In his interpretation, there is no difference between Ford’s cheap book and Morgan’s legendary mummy. After all, they both instill the same idea.
But, Doctorow doesn't just mock upper-class capitalism - he also mocks Ford. He describes a certain scene where Ford was happy, stating that "He [Ford] allotted sixty seconds on his pocket watch for a display of sentiment" (Doctorow 136). This machine-like portrayal reflects Doctorow's critique of the capitalist system on the lower class, turning them into machines in the workforce. He literally describes Ford's factory invention, having each worker do one task so their "mental capacities would not be taxed" (Doctorow 135). Doctorow makes the argument that capitalism dehumanizes the lower class.
Through Ford and Morgan's meeting, Doctorow mocks capitalism and the upper class.
Bibliography:
Doctorow, E. L. Ragtime. Random House, 2007 .
I agree with the sentiment that Doctorow mocks the upperclass, and capitalism as a whole, however I would disagree about the post-modernist evening out of the fields (so to speak). It seems to me, that in having Morgan absolutely befuddled at the literary comparison Ford makes to be a display as to how much the wealthy care about class. Ford acts as the postmodernist-enforcer in this case, however, as you said, Ford himself is treated with much irony-- an irony in which you often can't tell if his genius is true or a joke. This, to me, seems to show that while capitalism and class inequality is being mocked, the actual quality of literature and material is not equally valued as it still throws Morgan off. People are so affected by inequality that equality may not be a real idea. But then again, idk.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee, I thought it was really interesting the way you showed Morgan as emblematic of being born in his position versus Ford working his way up the ranks. For your argument about Doctorow attacking capitalism I think the scene describing poverty balls also contains a lot of useful details such as the rich pretending to be poor and almost glamorizing their struggles. I do wonder though about how the irony in depicting Ford could also potentially complicate the argument though.
ReplyDeleteHiii Renee, I like your way of pointing out irony in J.P. Morgan's and Ford's interaction! I think one interesting point to add to J.P. Morgan's narrative is how he is so wealthy, and he spends his time and money obsessing over intangible, mystical ideas (like reincarnation, destiny, etc.). I think that really shows how the upper-class people are wasting their privileges.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see Doctorow's ambiguous irony moving in both directions here: Morgan is lampooned as an aristocrat with a god complex, while Ford is treated satirically as a simple-minded rube. But Morgan seems to get the worst of the ironic treatment, in that his extreme wealth is presented as a kind of "anti-American" or antidemocratic ideal--not free-market capitalism but monopolistic large-scale global capitalism. Ford's rags-to-riches narrative suits the conventional "American Dream" narrative and democratic values much better than Morgan's does, and Doctorow's irony is up to 10 when he describes Morgan as a "classic American hero, a man born to extreme wealth . . ." (138). The fact that it's somewhat reasonable for him to wonder if he indeed might be part of some supernatural race of pharoah overlords carries a pretty strong antidemocratic critique.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee! I think you make a really strong point about how Doctorow uses Morgan and Ford to embody and critique different forms of capitalism. I like the point about how Ford isn’t exempt from ridicule either; his obsession with efficiency and mechanical control of workers feels just as dehumanizing as Morgan’s mystical obsession with wealth and destiny, and making fun of both mocks the extreme capitalism. I wonder if there is some sort of comparison that could be made from Ford to Tateh if we knew more about the latter, because of his similar rise to riches.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee! I like your interpretation of the meeting between Morgan and Ford. I also found it interesting that, throughout their meeting, Ford continuously challenged Morgan's confident, elitist personna. Adding onto that point, I remember that in the chapter about Ford's success in car manufacturing, it was mentioned that he partly attributed his success to others' underestimation of his abilities. I think that played into his conversation with Morgan, as Morgan appeared to think that he possessed power over Ford, however Ford effectively embarrassed him in several ways. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Renee! I thought your breakdown of Ford and Morgan was super interesting. I like how you showed Ford standing up to Morgan and flipping the power dynamic but also pointed out that Doctorow doesn’t let Ford off the hook either. The part about him only giving himself sixty seconds to feel happy really shows how mechanical and dehumanizing the capitalist system can get.
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