In his classic novel "Ragtime," E. L. Doctorow presents a type of "Godfather" character which posses many of the same attributes and characteristics of the Don Corleone character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather. This Godfather-like a character is the character, J.P Morgan. One can always go a step further and say that Morgan is a representation not only of the Godfather but that of a god.
             Doctorow's Ragtime is a tale of America's progression towards a material society due to the boom of capitalism. Morgan, being the wealthiest man in America, is at the top of this material culture, along with being at the top of the "business pyramid". Morgan even can be said to be the epitome of this evolution of society towards materialism. Morgan is more than just one man in Ragtime. Doctorow uses Morgan to symbolize the entire materialistic genre which he is depicting in his novel. With capitalism being a new "religion", or a new way of life, Morgan is the leader, "god" of this new religion. With success in a materialistic, capitalistic world comes money. Money often equals or evolves into power. With Morgan being one of the wealthiest men in the world, he is also one of the most powerful.
             Doctorow writes about an actual historical character so readers will have a history as a supporting voice, especially in the amount of power that Morgan has due to his extreme wealth. Morgan saved the United States government from bankruptcy by giving the American government a loan. Morgan also single-handedly stopped the panic of 1907 by arranging to have one hundred million dollars in gold bullion to be imported(Doctorow 115). Without Morgan's intervention, the entire American economy would have collapsed, thus affecting each United States citizen. By giving the United States government a loan, Morgan is proving that he is much wealthier than the United States government. The government depended on Morgan's financial stability, thus r...