Eli's takes on History as Fiction

 Evelyn Nesbit, who leaves in the middle of the story, leads a very interesting life beyond Ragtime. In the book, she tells Mother's younger brother she is going to run away with a ragtime artist, and that they are putting on an act together. In the real world, this person is Jack Clifford. They performed across the world until their eventual divorce in 1918. Jack Clifford citied his reasons for leaving her as not being able to handle her notoriety.  If Doctorow were to have kept writing beyond the end of Ragtime, I wonder if he would use this event to have Emma Goldman reunite with Evelyn Nesbit as in their first and only meeting, Emma criticized Evelyn as a mere object in the eyes of the capitalist patriarchal mainstream. And having her husband leave her because he was unable to deal with that fact would certainly fall in line with Emma's criticisms. Unfortunately, Evelyn would have financial trouble for the rest of her life. She opened a tea shop called the...

     Oxford English Dictionary defines paternalism as " The policy or practice of restricting the freedoms and responsibilities of subordinates or dependants in what is considered or claimed to be their best interests." This idea is popular throughout American history, one example is how White southerners used paternalism to defend slaver. Typically, thanks to a Eurocentric society and culture, minorities are treated like children, often portrayed as infantile in their own culture and needing the protection or guidance of white people. Themes of paternalism are shown and explored in ragtime, particularly through the character of Father. The ideas of paternalism in Ragtime are clearly shown in the exploration to the north pole. These ideas are very clearly shown in Father's trip. First, when he remembers his time in service in the Philippines and his observations on the people, he agreed with the comment made by a staff officer, "Our little brown brothers ha...