The American Illusion
The American Illusion
By: Mateo Hernandez
The American Dream is an idea we all have heard of. It’s the idea that anybody can be successful and free in America as long as you work hard enough and have the right mentality. But how realistic is the American dream? Is it achievable or is it simply an... illusion? E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime is proof that the American dream is faulty at best and limited to a select few.
Take a few of the most successful characters in Ragtime. Henry Ford, a Michigan-born farm boy who worked his way up from nothing, founded one of America’s biggest car companies and became one of the most successful businessmen of his time. Evelyn Nesbit, who was born into poverty, used her beauty and sex appeal to marry into one of the richest families in the country. Finally, immigrants like Tateh and Harry Houdini’s family were drawn into the U.S. because of this vision of success. Tateh lived in the slums of New York with his daughter, working as a humble street artist, but eventually ended up becoming a Hollywood movie producer. And, everyone knows Houdini, the immigrant who came from nothing, who rose to become arguably the most legendary escapologist and stunt performer to step on Earth. Now all of these stories are amazing! They are the reason why people want to come to America; it’s this dream that brings them here. But the dream is flawed.
To begin with, Doctorow makes it clear that this dream isn’t available to everyone. Take Coalhouse Walker, a mildly successful musician who, after losing his car, is thrown into this racial battle between White America and Black America. How could something like this happen? How could a man who was arguably living (in part) the American dream so quickly be thrown into such a terrible situation? Doctorow gives a description of Coalhouse’s car after it is recovered from the Firehouse Pond, “But now the authorities were embarrassed. The Ford stood as tangible proof of the black man’s grievance. Waterlogged and wrecked, it offended the sensibilities of anyone who respected machines and valued what they could do.” (Doctorow, 237). After his car is completely wrecked by a racist fire chief, Coalhouse legally pursues ways of getting his car back. But when these methods fail, he resolves to fight back violently because this conflict escalated from just “getting his car back” to a deeper racial issue that has suppressed black Americans and others for years. Our society and culture are flawed, to say the least. While laws and rights have been established in the past few decades to promote the American dream for non white Americans, they will arguably always be at a disadvantage because of how our culture is designed.
Evelyn Nesbit is a clear example of the broken American ‘dream’ for women. At the young age of 15, Nesbit’s terrible rape is documented in chapter 4 of Ragtime, “...[Thaw] had become temporarily deranged by the story she had told him about her ruination at the age of fifteen. She was an artist’s model and aspiring actress. Stanford White had invited her to his apartments in the tower of Madison Square Garden and offered her champagne. The champagne was drugged…” (Doctorow, 22). Evelyn Nesbit was one of the first hyper-popular models in America, but her American “dream” is one of the most broken of all. Being a model in a culture dominated by white men, she became quite famous and wealthy at a young age, but was also completely exploited by this society. Her success came at a terrible cost.
Overall, the American Dream is real. It is prominent in society and has continued to attract people across the world. It’s such a unique thing about our county. The freedom that we have and the success that has happened here is amazing. However, it is also broken, with characters like Nesbit and Coalhouse revealing the racial and social cost of this dream. So in the end, the dream is real, and has been active since before the founding of our country, and will continue to be for years to come. But is this dream really a good thing? Is it achievable by all? Or is it simply a way for people to exploit and get exploited by others?
Sources:
Doctorow, E. L. Ragtime. Random House, 2007 .
:)
Hi Mateo, I really liked your analysis of the American Dream. I like how you say that it really isn't achievable for everyone, and can often be deeper flaws. In reading your post, I noticed something interesting - the American dreams had failed for those who weren't white men. I attribute this to the prejudice of against minorities - Coalhouse Walker wouldn't have gotten his car wrecked if he wasn't black, and Evelyn Nesbitt would've had had her career at all if she wasn't an attractive woman. I think it is also telling that Nesbitt did succeed in some sense - she was able to get into the upper echelons of society - while Coalhouse Walker's success was limited. I think this speaks to the racial prejudices in America portrayed in Ragtime. I enjoyed reading your last line - I think that one thing Doctorow emphasizes with his irony is this idea that things aren't what they really seem. In the same vein, the American Dream isn't really a dream - it's an endless cycle of exploitation.
ReplyDeleteHi Mateo, I definitely agree that Doctorow is forcing readers to reconsider how they perceive the United States and the American Dream. There have definitely been moments such as reflecting on how gender and race play into the opportunities given to people. Something interesting though is even though Houdini is highly successful, he is also shown as not being happy. Even after he's arguably achieved the American Dream he feels pressure to continue succeeding rather than feeling like he's made it. Tateh is also an interesting case considering how he abandoned his socialist ideals in favor of capitalism and consumerism.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I agree with your interpretations of Nesbit's and Coalhouse's American 'dream'. I'm curious, do you think Tateh lived out an American dream? Also, I think it's interesting, the idea that the American dream is 'real', but not good, in which case I'd question how we define the American dream. Is the American dream success? Can these exploitative experiences be counted within it?
ReplyDeleteHey Sophie! Really good point you brought up about Tateh and the American dream (I forgot to include this in the blog lol). Tateh starts out roughly, living in the slums, but after uncovering and really developing he passion for art (ironically as a result from Evelyn's frequent visits) he does begin to live out the American dream. BUT a key thing to keep in mind, is that for this success, he had to become the "Baron" a persona that he adopted to achieve wealth and success that he never could have gotten being an immigrant at the time.
DeleteHey Mateo!! I really like your perspective American Dream. I like how you brought up different topics that showed this narrative.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sharp analysis throughout. If we view "the American Dream" as one among many American metanarratives, we can see examples of it in the novel with, as you note, varying results depending on the race and gender of the American Dreamer. So Doctorow clearly seems to be skeptical of "the" American Dream as a single overarching metanarrative that shapes everyone's experience, BUT he does seem to offer a pretty good example of a self-made American Dreamer in the form of Tateh, perhaps the only male character in the novel who ends up in a "good place" at the close of the book. Houdini might also be a viable candidate, but our final glimpse of him, spinning upside down absurdly high over a Manhattan street, while an anonymous New Yorker curses him out through a window, contrasts strongly with Tateh's bountiful and optimistic home at the close of his narrative. And as you point out, Coalhouse's tragic plotline would seem to be the most robust denial of the Dream on the basis of race and class.
ReplyDeleteHi Mateo, I think that you did a really good job at pointing out that not every character was able to fully embrace the idea of having the American Dream with people like Tateh and his daughter initially when they first came to America but also looking at how the American Dream could also be achieved through terrible ways such as with the tragic story of Evelyn Nesbit. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteYo Mateo! This deep dive into how the American Dream is interpreted in Ragtime is incredible! I really like how you showed that even though one can be successful and experiencing the benefits of the American Dream, America's dark and flawed side can strike hard and ruin it all. I agree with your statements and to answer your series of questions at the end I believe that it's definitely possible to achieve success as an immigrant or minority but the system is so pitted against you that it's pretty rare. Maybe consider what sets apart those who achieve it from those who fail to? In doing so you can learn more about the dream itself.
ReplyDeleteMateo! I like how you go really deep with the American Dream. Most people see the American Dream as a place were you can be free have all the things a person could ask for. But in reality the American Dream is a way for people who already have power to use and exploit the weaker and the less unfortunate who have to struggle and climb little by little to make in to the top and get the American Dream they thought was an easy reality. I really love how you compare this argument to Coalhouse someone who was living the American Dream and was black a very rare sight. But even with all of his success he was still not able stay in the corrupt world of America. One example of someone who was able to have the American dream with hard work and was able to keep the dream I think is Tateh. Someone who was extremely poor to someone who has a pretty good life.
ReplyDeleteALSO 6,7 :>
Hey Mateo! I really liked how you showed both sides of the American Dream here. The way you explained Ford and Tateh’s success next to Coalhouse and Evelyn’s struggles really highlighted how uneven it is. The part about Evelyn especially stood out to me because it shows how much the “dream” can cost people.
ReplyDeleteBrotein Shake, this is some deep stuff. You did a great job of highlighting how this story highlighted a bunch of success stories, especially with many of the main characters we encounter in this book, however, you also did a great job of noticing how the book also highlighted many faults with the American Dream. Did the book give the dream too much credit? Should Doctorow have included more failures? More sadder plot lines?
ReplyDeleteGreat job Mateo! I think you're take on the exclusivity of the "American Dream" is very interesting. It is so common, even today, to see things branded as a path for everyone but in truth are only for a select group of people. Evelyn Nesbit is a particularly insightful example of this. She represents such an idealized view of femininity and is very famous and wealthy considering the time, but she desired nothing more than to fall back into obscurity and by extension peace.
ReplyDeleteHey Mateo! I really like how you get the reader to think about your topic more by asking questions. it really deepens your point. You do a really good job of explaining why the American Dream is 'selective' in a way. Good Job!
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