E.L. Doctorow's 'Ragtime'

Book Review # 1804

Literature > American

An examination of the 'buried life' of America's underclass.

1,165 words () | 1 source | 2000 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how Doctorow depicts the American underclass, such as immigrants, in the beginning of the 20th century in America, and how he uses language to achieve this depiction. The paper explores the theme in "Ragtime" of being buried or trapped to show how Doctorow achieves this effect.

From the Paper:

"But in E. L. Doctorow's novel Ragtime , he shows the reader that this utopian notion of the "good old days" of turn-of-the-century America is a misconception. In this novel, the reader sees how immigrants, ethnic groups, women, and the working class were victimized by the rich and powerful forces in American society, and by the apathy of those who turned their heads away from the misery and loathsome conditions of the underprivileged. One of the themes that Doctorow explores is that of his characters being trapped or buried in their circumstances. He uses metaphors and symbols to show both the physical and the sociological oppression that the people of that era suffered by personifying these themes through the medium of his characters. "