The era of Ragtime overlaps with what is known as the Progressive Era. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what that means: tons o' progress. This means worker's rights and women's rights… and it also means technological change.
Henry Ford's new Model T and his assembly line can create cars faster than ever before, which means more and more people can afford them. Flip books are turning into early movies. Fireworks are becoming bombs. The wheels of modernity are spinning freely, churning out both the good (movies: hooray!) and the bad (bombs: boo).
Questions About Technology and Modernization
- What technology has the biggest effect on American culture in the novel?
- What is Henry Ford's view of the American worker?
- Does Doctorow view technology and modernization as good or bad?
- Why does Doctorow give Younger Brother, who's responsible for inventing numerous weapons, such a lost and lonely personality?
Chew on This
According to Ragtime, modern technology is more beneficial than it is dangerous. Technology is a force for equality in this novel.
It's fitting that Henry Ford's idea for the assembly line was inspired by a slaughterhouse. Ragtime portrays modernization as almost apocalyptically scary.