Hiding Fiction Behind Historical Events
Throughout Ragtime , Doctorow incorporates real-life historical events that interact with his fictional characters. However, when he shares these scenes, they are hidden from the rest of the world. Doctorow explores these historical figures' personalities while still maintaining the public image that we know of them in real life. For example, take the Peary expedition. This expedition to the North Pole was a real thing that happened. In real life, Peary went to the North Pole with a group of people, including Matthew Henson. However, in the book, Doctorow includes Father as one of the men who joined the expedition. Obviously, Father was not part of that group (though one could think of him as a general character that could be any random dude, but that's a different topic), so in an attempt to keep the events appearing real, Doctorow kicks Father out of the actual trek to the North Pole. In the photo that they took at the supposed "pole," we only s...