The Peary Expedition as an Allegory in RagtimeE.L. Doctorow's novel, Ragtime, is primarily concerned with the illustration of broken dreams. Building on the tradition of Muckraker novels by authors such as Upton Sinclair, Doctorow shows the dark side of the Jazz Age. The beginning of the novel deals with Father's preparation for and participation in William Peary's expedition to the North Pole. The theme of disillusionment that runs throughout the novel is foreshadowed and represented by the Peary expedition. Peary's expedition, like the American dream and socialist vision, rests on high hopes. The expedition, however, is marked by disappointment and results in the destruction of dreams and people. In Doctorow's treatment, the American dream as well as the socialist vision share this fate. In this way, Peary's polar expedition serves as an allegory for the entire novel. The novel is filled with big dreams, grandiose visions and great hopes. The general tone of the era and the American dream are represented in the exploration of the Arctic. The North Pole represents what seems inaccessible and its search is a great effort to realize dreams. The trials and great difficulties of Arctic exploration illustrate the romantic ideal of infinite effort. Even the accomplished Houdini is impressed by the magnitude of his father's journey. This magnificent undertaking sets the stage for the hopes and dreams expressed throughout the novel. The American dream of prosperity is everywhere manifested in the deification of industrialists and in the fact that “there were no blacks.” There were no immigrants” (4). As Father's ship departs for the Arctic, he does not see immigrants arriving in New York harbor, but "...... middle of paper ...... the expedition's ambiguous victory Peary through the different social visions expressed and in the lives of his characters, Doctorow presents a vision of the Jazz Age that both presents and deconstructs the values ​​and dreams of the era, as. the narrator notes, "the era of Ragtime was over" and the narrator notes that the hopes and dreams of a generation were shattered. Only characters who adapted to the world by abandoning their initial visions survive and thrive. . Ragtime, is a story, like the Peary expedition, of lost hopes, disappointed dreams and the struggle to cope with the ambiguities of life Like the blurry and dark photograph of the explorers at the pole, the dreams described. in the novel developed into faded representations of themselves Works Cited: Doctorow, EL Ragtime New York: Bantom/Random House, Inc..., 1976