E.L. Doctorow and Social Context for RAGTIME

E.L. Doctorow was the exception. While the rest of America was disillusioned and disheartened by the Vietnam war, Doctorow maintained an extremely liberal outlook for his time, insisting on writing about social awareness and, to put it plainly, compassion.  International and domestic affairs was a blur and America was sitting on the sidelines, tirelessly fighting in a war they could not win, otherwise blind to what Doctorow had to offer.

Publishing Ragtime in 1975 earned Doctorow several critical acclaims, including the Arts and Letters Award in 1975 and the first National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1976.  Despite it's popular and commercial success, critics viewed Ragtime as a prime example of Doctorow's "radical Jewish humanism."  As a minority in America, Doctorow identified with other oppressed populations, namely immigrants and African Americans.   

Ragtime does not paint a picture of America and its struggles in the 1970s; instead, it uses the framework of an earlier time to address the all too relevant issues of racism, classism, and controversial gender roles. Doctorow employs the turn-of-the-century to outline his own beliefs and express his liberal ideology. 

Ragtime follows the journey of three different families from three vastly different cultures as they attempt to tackle and conquer the American dream.  Each faces adversity in its own way, and all are forced to acknowledge and adapt to the changing times.  Through the eyes of a young boy, we are introduced to the three diverse factions: Harlem African Americans, Jewish Eastern European immigrants, and upper class white Americans.  Each is forced to learn how to live with each other in a merging society on the brink of the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of rag music, and a complete reevaluation of social norms and expectations.

The question isn't if they do or do not cope, but how.

 E.L. Doctorow attended Columbia University for graduate school. 

The New York native published several books before Ragtime, establishing himself as a major American writer.

"Controversial in content and original in style, Doctorow's work often involves serious philosophical probings and the placement of historical figures in unusual and unpredictable situations and settings and challenge the limits of the literary genres on which he draws."