I have really enjoyed this book for its portrayal of the early 20th century American aristocracy. Nowhere is this better seen than in the description of J.P Morgan and his adventures (or lack thereof) with Ford.
Early on in this section, there is my absolute favorite quote: “Pierpont Morgan was that classic American hero, a man born to extreme wealth who by dint of hard work and ruthlessness multiplies the family fortune till it is out of sight.” This sums up the two things required to make it in America, hard work and a bit of a break. These two things are personified and amplified in the aristocrats seen in this section. On one side there are those who got breaks: Carnegie & Rockefeller. They are shown as simpletons and alcoholics and in doing so implies that they chanced upon their fortunes.
Across from this, there is J.P Morgan and Ford, who are portrayed by Doctorow as believing that they are the hardest working and cleverest people to ever exist. Ford clearly has mastered the art of managing the time of other people and has risen the ranks in society. While Morgan has had so much success that there is no way that it is just good luck. This is especially true if we chose to believe everything he says from bailing out American to rediscovering ancient Egyptian reincarnation. However, Morgan is presented as being, at least, a little bit prideful, a point made excessively clear by his “secret society’. This leads to the question of whether he is honest in his accomplishments and consequentially, whether his fortune is more the result of hard work or good fortune.
I don't know if you remember much from U.S. History, but the juniors just recently learned about Horatio Alger, an author who lived in the late 1800s and wrote books focused around middle class respectability and the classic "rags to riches" narrative. He emphasizes the young man who with a little bit of wealth and a lot of luck, catches his big break and catapults himself into riches. This kind of story is the type that Doctorow portrays Morgan's to be, except it is dripping in irony. Doctorow doesn't really believe that Morgan's rise to the top was ethical nor really due to hard work. He started out privileged, and with that kind of leverage, he could really accomplish anything. By mentioning the fact Morgan "multiplies his family fortune till it it out of sight" doesn't make any of us think he is respectable. Sure, hard work certainly helped him but all we can see is his immense greed and selfishness (note: night spent in tomb).
ReplyDeleteYeah, Doctorow's irony is turned up high when he describes Morgan as a classic American hero, being born into wealth and multiplying that wealth "til it is out of sight." Not exactly the Horatio Alger paradigm (although this paradigm works pretty well for Tateh's story).
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