Dwelling on Passive Remarks

          So we've finished a decent amount of Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow, and although we've read some seriously postmodern passages and shocking topics, Doctorow's writing style is still what intrigues me the most. Namely how with most introductions of characters, applying most recently to his characters of Henry Ford and J. P. Morgan. Doctorow opts to write with a more passive voice, applying heavy satire all the while. Personally I haven't read many books utilizing this sort of a style, yet it permeates the entirety of Ragtime in some way or another. Though the character introductions tend to have less striking descriptions of events or people in the passive voice, such as the description of the poverty balls or the child workers in earlier chapters for instance, the character introductions have this passive voice satire more consistently.
      
          Through the use of passive voice, everything must be taken with a grain of salt. Chapter 18, where we are introduced to Henry Ford, is a prime example of Doctorow's passive satire. It becomes so littered with satire that it's hard to tell what is and isn't meant to be satire. On one hand Doctorow says things like "Instead of having one man learn the hundreds of tasks in the building of one motorcar, walking him hither and yon to pick out the parts from a general inventory, why not stand him in his place, have him do just one task over and over, and let the parts come past him on moving belts. Thus the worker's mental capacity would not be taxed." and "He allotted sixty seconds on his pocket watch for a display of sentiment. Then he sent everyone back to work.", but also says calls him a genius without any other implications. Additionally, his allotment of a mere sixty seconds can be seen as admirable dedication to his work. The entire chapter is filled with these sorts of statements that are blatantly satirical, but also statements that can be read one way the first time, a different way a second time, and possibly even a third meaning the third time. It's quite perplexing to have a reading where, when you do a double-take, you pick up another understanding of the moment. The passive voice is a brilliant tool to make scenes like Ford's introduction seem just off enough for us to second guess ourselves and search for the meaning behind the satire. I'm personally bouncing back and forth ideas on what exactly Doctorow intended for the reader to interpret in this section (pre-meeting with J. P. Morgan) and how that fits into his meeting with Morgan.  Regardless, Doctorow's passive voice through the novel is an effective medium for the hypercritical satire he imposes constantly in my opinion. 

Change comes around (New Class!)

To all who might be following this blog after the roughly 6 month gap between posts, this blog is going to be used for the History as Fiction class posts until further notice.

Just a friendly PSA.

Have a good afternoon!