El Doctorow on the Elites
There are many things that El Doctorow uses to criticize America in different ways, but I just want to focus on Ford / J.P. Morgan. Two historical figures that Doctorow messes with constantly.
These two people are symbols of America one way or another. We all have heard of Ford's innovation in the factory to revolutionize the way things are made to this day. J.P. Morgan may not be taught in our history classes to the same degree, but his name is on one of the most powerful companies in America. We all know these names and they are commonly lifted up in American mythology.
El Doctorow takes these highly respected names and embarrasses them to the highest degree. With J.P. Morgan, he makes fun of how he might think of himself as a God. I particularly like the line “To Morgan, the disfigurement of his monstrous nose was the touch of God upon him, the assurance of mortality” (139-40). J.P. Morgan is so full of himself that he needs a huge big red nose to remind him that he is not a god. Even then he makes it the assumption that it was God himself that put that nose there.
I would think when Doctorow makes Ford and J.P. Morgan believe in reincarnation, it is poking fun at them. This book was written to an American audience that is mostly Christian. These people would have thought of reincarnation as insane. It is even more insane how both of the characters come to the conclusion.
J.P. Morgan comes to the conclusion after years of study of the ancient Egyptians and discovering one of the mummies looks kinda like Ford. Ford just bought a 25 cent book and came to the conclusion that smarter people have lived more lives. Both of these stories are absurdist in their own right.
Many times we think of these older elites as incredibly intelligent, logical men, but Doctorow is, at least, trying to use the fact that these two believe in reincarnation to push against that idea.
Doctorow uses these two men, pillars of American mythology, to poke fun at the fact that, maybe, these men were not as smart as we thought, or at the very least they might have carried some crazy beliefs. If we look at this from when the time was written, it would have been criticizing the new modern elites. The oil barons, the people from the companies that were moving jobs overseas. Those people might seem smart, but they may hold some crazy beliefs.
Hi Tucker! Doctorow's treatment of the elite class is really interesting. I'm really liking the interpretation that Ford and JPM are thinking of themselves as chosen "gods", a very blasphemous view in Christian America. It's also really funny that the elite are being treated with strong irony: JPM, despite being one of the most influential people in the world, talks to a bird, and Ford's personality is completely different than expected. Great post!
ReplyDeleteMy man of graciousness Tucker Gergen, I found it very interesting how you were able to slowly take stuff apart piece by piece, looking at the exaggerations that Doctorow implements to the elites of America at the time which almost gives the idea of Doctorow being a man of the people who pokes fun at all the rich people at the time with any opportunity he has
ReplyDeleteI agree that at least part of the energy we encounter in these satirical portraits of Great Men like Ford and Morgan has to do with the perennial pleasure in seeing the rich and powerful brought down a notch: Doctorow, like any good satirist, is "punching up," scoring blows against those who are more powerful. The effect is analogous to a good caricature or political cartoon, where certain "real" or recognizable features are exaggerated for comic/critical effect. But to be clear, Morgan IS a significant figure in *history* during this period, at least on a par with Ford, and Doctorow makes this clear within the text: the stuff about Morgan bailing out the US Government, of rising to a "transnational" or "globalist" level of wealth where he is not quite bound by ordinary laws, has solid basis in history. He really is the embodiment or personification of capitalism starting to run amok in this period. And for better or worse, he really was a rare kind of individual who made a profound impact on the world economy--and as Houdini might say, that's the kind of thing that makes the history books.
ReplyDeleteYou've revealed another example of irony that Doctorow has dumped into this novel. I really like how you tied this in with how Doctorow might be attempting to communicate to a religious audience, relying on the reader to intensify how insane they think Morgan and Ford are. Also, the subversion of expecting older experienced men to be more logical in their thinking is a very interesting point, and I like how you've made it clearer on what Doctorow's personal takes might be on these kinds of people.
ReplyDeleteHi Tucker, I like the way you interpreted these two characters in the context of when this book was released. I also think it is interesting how Doctorow contrasts the two, especially during that scene where Ford claims he knows about JP's idea of reincarnation from his 25 cent book.
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