Doctorow, E.L. Ragtime. \"My Life

Doctorow, E.L. Ragtime.

"My life is desecrated by whores, is what he said" (p.47)

Logically, a man who patronizes whores with his own body and money is committing just as much of a sin as the women he transgresses with through the commerce of prostitution. But quite often, women who must live as prostitutes are blamed for the faults of males, as is in the case of this quotation, where the women alone are defamed for tempting the males who use their services.

"Of course your man is a pervert, a parasite... Goldman said" (p. 51-52)

The opposite sense of blame is seen in this quote, where the man is expected to provide for the female, or else he is a parasite in the eyes of society. Goldman plays upon such feelings.

3."She loved him but she wanted... whom she could treat badly."(p. 74)

This illustrates a negative relationship between a man and a woman, where a woman derives her esteem from a man. Yet the woman also wishes to treat her partner poorly, to demonstrate her superiority over the supposedly superior gender.

4."The I.W.W. has won. But what has it won? (p. 109)

The unions and socialist organizations such as the International Workers of the World may have won a small victory because of some legislation that was passed, but they not truly won the class war, especially as theories of modern capitalism such as the use of interchangeable parts, the lesser power of skilled workers in such a mechanized climate and Henry Ford-derived views of common workers came to dominance in American economic life.

5. "The interchangeability of parts is a rule of nature (p. 122)

In this phrase, the invention of Henry Ford's interchangeable parts when assembling the automobile is normalized as something human and natural, rather than an inhuman system imposed upon the bodies of workers.

6.Mr. Ford...if my ideas can survive.... their ultimate test. (P.127)

The ultimate test of interchangeable parts in a factory system are if the ideas can 'make it' in the marketplace of commerce. The ultimate test of what is really beneficial to workers or society is subsumed to the need to make a profit.

7.It occurred to Father one day that.... he was a Negro (p.134)

Despite the fact that identity might seem like something one is given at birth, the ways that society perceives one's color, ethnicity, and race are not always the same as one's personal sense of self.

8. It was the second of the frightened...provoked from her innocence (p.158)

The sense of a woman's innocence of sexuality is highlighted in this quotation, as the woman in question proceeds from a sense of early purity to awareness.

9. The theatre shook on its foundation and.... from the proscenium arch. (p. 171)

The proscenium arch is the gold, false arch that frames the stage and creates the illusion of theatrical space -- however, the false vision that is framed within the arch can still be profoundly destabilizing to society.

10. Give him his automobile and hang him (p. 242)

This illustrates the paradox of American consumer culture, still at its beginning stages of the early 20th century setting of the novel. The life of the individual is less important than his car.