In the 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 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.

Morgan, along with the Godfather, has power to control the actions of authorities. However, the Godfather often obtains his power and support of government and authoritative officials by buying them off or by doing favors for them. Morgan does not buy off the officials. Authorities do not need to be bought off by Morgan because they recognize that he is a higher power than anyone of them are willing to deal with. This power is shown in the Coalhouse Walker case. The police refuse to do anything before they get a hold of Morgan and see how he wants to handle the situation. Doctorow states the police were ordered to act in the best interest of Morgan. In life people have to answer to a higher power, God. In Ragtime, the higher power that the police have to answer to is J. P. Morgan. Through this sequence of events, Doctorow is showing how Morgan is more powerful and has more authority than the people that are supposed to be in charge. This power is derived from his wealth. In The Godfather, Don Corleone uses his money and authority in a more indiscreet way. The Godfather uses his money to buy authority. Once Morgan's word came on how to handle the hostage situation, "Give him the automobile and hang him", the authorities have no choice but to follow his orders. (242). Even the authorities are aware of the power of Morgan, they dare not do anything without his approval. One can assume that the authorities want Morgan's approval with any decisions made because the hostage was on his property, but I believe it is not that simple. The fate of Coalhouse Walker is in the hands of Morgan. By putting the life of a person in another's hands, Doctorow is once again showing how Morgan assumes the role of God, by allowing Morgan to decide if Coalhouse is to live or die. Don Corleone is often in the habit of deciding the fate of another man. Doctorow uses show of power in order to prove how much money and material wealth is a driving force in our society. Murphy's Golden Rule states, "He who has the gold, makes the rules." This quotation, as negative as it may seem, bears a lot more truth than society would like to admit. Morgan does not have to buy off or do favors for persons in higher authority in order to win their favor. The authorities are already aware of Morgan's power, without having to be "bought off".

Morgan's mere physical stature and aura are very similar to that of the Godfather. For example in the scene on page 260 in Ragtime, where Morgan sits in a straight chair with his hands folded on a cane. He is receiving a list of aristocrats who are there to ask favors from Morgan. He receives these aristocrats and nods his response to their request, as though he is "above" talki

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Approximate Word count = 1836
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)