Of all the topics I could choose to address in this blog post, I think the most interesting one is the idea that Ford and Morgan created the Illuminati. Admit it: yes, labor strikes and anarchy are interesting, but the Illuminati? That is a whole other level. Out of all of the quasi-truthful stories Doctorow tells in Ragtime, this is the only one where I am completely taken by surprise.
First of all, when did the Illuminati become a thing? Doctorow wrote Ragtime in the ‘70s, and I don’t really imagine that level of conspiracy theories in the ‘70s. I figured I would do some research, and, after some quality Wikipedia time, I realized there was a lot more to this than I had thought.
Did you know that the idea of the Illuminati originated in the 18th Century with an actual group called the Bavarian Illuminati? I sure didn’t. Plus, did you know that they were banned, along with Freemasonry (remember that, juniors?) and other secret societies? This whole time, I had thought someone just made up the idea of the Illuminati and decided to assign the conspiracy theory to groups for fun!
Honestly, though, why would Doctorow want to include a conspiracy theory in his novel? Sure, you might say it was not intentional, but come on, The Pyramid? It cannot have been unintentional! This, of course, leads to another question: why is a pyramid associated with the Illuminati? According to a link from the official Illuminati website, it is “The Pyramid of Wealth and Success.” I interpret the description of the pyramid as saying, those who are richer are rich because there are no other people to replace them. They are unique, they are alone. Does this sound familiar? I think it perfectly describes Morgan’s feeling of loneliness. He feels like there is no one like him, no one who has the same ideas, and he desperately wishes for a companion of similar ideas. His and Ford’s society, The Pyramid, is a representation of themselves as the top of the pyramid: those unreplaceable geniuses who cannot be replaced and (wait for it. . .) are being reincarnated to provide each generation with one such genius.
Woah. I just shocked myself with how conspiracy theory-y I got.
(Source: https://illuminati.am/pyramid-of-wealth-and-success/)
To return to the original topic, why might Doctorow want to include this conspiracy in his writing? I suspect there is some truth to the idea that he is, in his entire book, describing the Pyramid of Wealth and Success. Think about it: there is Morgan and Ford on the top, and then the bottom is full of the middle class and lower classes. Take Father, for example, and how easily replaceable he is. He leaves for Alaska, and when he returns, his position, at least his position in his business, has been mostly taken over by Mother. Or the strikers that טאטע (Tateh) joins in Lawrence. The entire problem pushing their striking is that wages are dropping lower and lower and they cannot stop it because they are entirely replaceable! Whether it is foreign workers or unemployed citizens, there are always more people ready to take over, regardless of how low the wage is. Remember what טאטע said: “The I.W.W. has won. . .But what has it won? A few more pennies in wages. Will it now own the mills? No.” The combination of טאטע and Morgan’s self-awareness seems almost to me as though it is reaching that fourth wall of writing, where the characters in the story acknowledge their fictionality. It is like an extreme case of “show, not tell.” Instead of hearing it from the narrator, we hear straightforward, slightly unbelievable assessments of the circumstances of the time from the characters themselves. (And, once more, I am off topic).
Anyway, what I am trying (and failing) to say, is that I believe the conspiracy theory is here to remind us, as the readers, how absurd this entire concept is. The absurdity of Mother’s Younger Brother’s obsessions with Evelyn and then Coalhouse. The absurdity of Coalhouse’s sudden shift from seemingly steady and patient musician to crazy-man blowing things up and killing people. The absurdity of the possibility of the Franklin Novelty Company both buying טאטע’s book and selling Ford his book. The absurdity of Houdini suddenly showing up at Father and Mother’s house. Or, even, the absurdity of our own personal conspiracy theory that the Little Boy is, in fact, a deity of some sort. The Pyramid is a reminder of the absurdity, as well as the quasi-legitimacy.
(I cannot hold myself back from connecting this idea of absurdity connected with quasi-legitimacy to the life of a Uni student. Think about Mr. Butler’s fun facts. How many times have you listened to those and thought, even if only for a second, could this be true? It may just be that I am extremely gullible (which I admit I am (ooh look parentheses within parentheses within parentheses!)), but every time I hear a fun fact I acknowledge the absurdity of it (for they are often absurd), but at the same time, they are not impossible. They are not impossible to the extent that it is not necessarily impossible for Evelyn and Emma Goldman to have met, or Houdini and Thaw. They mention real people, famous people, and then tie them up in events which never happened. Huh. I did not even realize how connected they were until I wrote this.)
Hey guys! I hope my overall ideas about conspiracies and Ragtime shone through occasionally despite all of my off-topic ideas. Let me know what you think! Do you agree with my conspiracy theory(s)?
