The Upper Class in Ragtime
Ragtime written by Doctorow E.L. Doctorow explores the almost forgotten time period of the early 1900s. From the various threads present throughout the storym one thing remains constant: the rich being presented with irony. Doctorow shows the United States being in an interesting state where the rich “honor the poor” (Doctorow 34). The narrator describes how the rich decorate their poverty balls to look like the mines. They participate in these poverty balls to raise money for the poor, yet at the same time they need poor people to live in bad conditions to continue this form of entertainment. The tone of the passage shows the irony such as the way Doctorow writes about how the “bloody beef trailed around the walls on moving pulleys” and then ends this vivid description with “the proceeds were for charity” (35). While the tone doesn’t imply any sort of bias towards the descriptions, the way Doctorow ends the descriptions of the rich pretending to be poor with “the proceeds were for charity” reveals a hint of irony (35).
An example of a rich person pretending to be poor is when Evelyn Nesbit lives a secret life with Tateh and his daughter. To talk to him and his daughter, she has to buy a silhouette drawing each time. One time, Tateh and his daughter weren't in their usual spot, but “fortunately she had learned where they lived” (40). While the sentence is phrased in a positive way, the subtext reveals that she has stalked them to learn where they lived. She then essentially invites herself into their home to the displeasure of Tateh. Evelyn is living vicariously through this family and seems to derive more joy from this part of her life compared to the other events going on in her life such as Harry K Thaw’s trial. Where it gets even weirder is when Evelyn “[considers] kidnapping the little girl” (42). Something is clearly wrong with Evelyn Nesbit. She lives in the Jewish slums a couple of hours each day just to feel some kind of happiness.
Evelyn Nesbit’s husband Harry K Thaw's representation is also just as weird. While Houdini is performing an escapade, Harry Thaw undresses himself and mimics obscene actions at Houdini. Houdini uses this moment to explain why he doesn’t enjoy performing for the rich because they prefer to mock him rather than applaud him for the time and effort he’s put into his craft. This is exemplified by the next scene where he is about to perform for Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish. The reader is given context about her and she’s known to have thrown a ball where everyone had to engage in baby talk. For the current ball, she has also hired a circus . The circus performers are entertained by Houdini’s magic tricks, which is in contrast to how the rich jeer and laugh at him. Another interesting aspect is how the description of the circus freaks is treated with more respect than Mrs. Fish’s costume. Lavinia Warren Thumb is described as upheld with dignity and dressed gracefully. On the other hand, Mrs. Fish is described as having “a clutch of jeweled feathers rising from her piled hair, ropes of pearls swinging pendulously from her neck” (29). The words used such give the subtle feeling that something is wrong and that there is an underlying tension within the writing. Doctorow’s ironic depiction of class questions how the American people should interpret the ideals and values of the United States.
I completely agree with your observation about the subtlety of Doctorow's critique of class in America. I think it adds an additional layer to the book, leading the reader toward a certain opinion without explicitly stating Doctorow's stance on it. I also love the humor it brings to these really depressing parts of the story, because the irony really grounds us in how normalized this stuff can get.
ReplyDeleteRagtime presents a very unfiltered view of the class divide in Ragtime. It satirizes many of the eccentricities that the rich often have. I love your usage of the specific examples of Thaw and Nesbit, mocking and mimicking the poor.
ReplyDeleteI agree that while Doctorow's irony can sometimes be tough to pin down in this novel--he generally seems pretty supportive of and sympathetic to Evelyn, for example, but he also has a few lines that depict her in a dismissive or demeaning light--when the subject is the wealthy and privileged, his tone gets quite scathing and even satirical. This is an interesting rhetorical strategy to point out, as for much of literary history--especially the kind of social-issues fiction written by Theodore Dreiser, who is featured briefly in _Ragtime_--moral outrage over social and economic inequality has tended to take the form of melodrama or sentimentality, pleas that appeal to our higher nature, our conscience. "How can we live with ourselves amidst such outrages!"--that kind of thing. But Doctorow deploys a much more postmodern brand of irony, and usually comedic but bitter irony, to treat the wealthy--there might be an aspect of moral outrage, but it's maybe even more effective to depict the wealthy as absurd, silly, self-absorbed, out of touch, delusional, and narcissistic. I've been hearing a lot lately that the way to respond to a tyrant or dictator is through mockery rather than heartfelt moral argument--emperors tend to have thin skin. Doctorow's approach in this novel seems similar: he's "punching up" rather than punching down.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan, I definitely agree that Doctorow often mocks the upper class characters in his novel. I also think that in general, Doctorow utilizes irony throughout the book as an opportunity to weave in his personal views of social issues. One example of this is when he writes about how the only downside to employing children was that they don't possess as much stamina as adults. Doctorow's uses irony in this passage to point to a larger societal issue, which he does several other times throughout the novel. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHay Jonathan! Lowkey, I did not think about how the rich need the poor to stay poor in order to host their balls until you mentioned it here. That's a really interesting point to think about. I also talked about the Harry K. Thaw incident in my blog, but it's interesting to see it from more of a focus on the irony towards the rich. Can't wait to read your future blogs!
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan!! This was a really interesting read. Class divide was honestly something I neglected while reading Ragtime, and I think Doctorow's critiques were weaved into the story really well; they weren't super explicit and obvious, but they were very much there. (I also feel like that's how class divide plays out a lot in the real world as well!!) It was so interesting to see how you connected the dots in this topic, great blog!!
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan! I also found Evelyn's attachment to Tateh and the little girl pretty weird and stalker-y. It also feels like when Tateh finally became 'rich', or at least better off, he really tried to exaggerate it and fit into high society. I wonder, with how similar his past is to Houdini's, if Tateh will also be eventually be alienated from the elites by the kind of fetishization of the poor from the rich. This was a great analysis!
ReplyDelete