A Peary Ironic Journey
Doctorow, in his 1975 novel Ragtime , embraces the spirit of postmodernist fiction by weaving historical figures into the narrative. A common thread of this "collision of worlds" construction is that upper-class members are villainized, and their depictions are laced with irony. Some of these characters include Ms. Fish, Harry K. Thaw, Peary, Ford, and Morgan. Of these, we will focus on the arctic exploration of Peary in Chapter 10. Peary, in his Arctic exploration with father, carries on the spirit of colonialism. The beginning of Chapter 10 tells us that, Peary "loved to discuss his system" (73), which turns out to be a mere adaptation of the Esquimo way of life. He carries the knowledge of "the material and designs of the sledges, the food that was to be eaten, ..." (73) with pride. In fact, the Esquimo people are seen as the Arctic version of the "noble savage": Peary asserts that the Esquimos are "children and ... [should] be treated...