AP Lang: Ragtime Essay 10/13/12
Throughout history, the impoverished community has been known to face many problems and have no say in any aspect of society. The voice of the weak isn’t often heard, and it all comes down to one thing: money. The world revolves around money, so to speak. Money and power go hand in hand as people of power generally tend to have an abundance of wealth. Since the wealthy have heavy influences on the economy and politics, the less fortunate often suffer. Poor people have trouble “climbing up the social ladder,” tend to not have an influence on politics, and have difficulty raising proper families. E.L. Doctorow shows how hard it is for the members of the impoverished community to raise families successfully through the protagonists in Ragtime. Adam Davidson discusses how hard it is for a poor person to become successful in “The Purpose of Spectacular Wealth, According to a Spectacularly Wealthy Guy.” Lastly, in an editorial from USA Today, “Disclose secret campaign finance”, it is shown how little an influence the poor have on politics. One major problem that the impoverished community have faced throughout history, is having a difficult time providing for a family. This often leads to people doing things out against their morals, out of desperation for money. Mameh, a protagonist from Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, is forced to sleep with her boss for extra money. Her job doesn’t pay her enough money to help support her husband and daughter. Not only does she go against her own morals, but also recieves a bad reputation in society. Her husband, Tateh, even leaves her, taking their daughter with him because he feels that she has brought shame upon his family. Although Mameh was only trying to help support her family, she was shunned away by her husband. She couldn’t retain her values and keep a family at the same time. A sacrifice had to be made to provide for her family, but in the end she lost it all. Another