Ragtime Foreignness and 'The Other' Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

So that was it, the strike would be won. But then what? He heard the clacking of the looms. A salary of six dollars and change. [...] Tateh shook his head. This country will not let me breathe. (17.4)

The great American dream was pretty hard to make happen on the kind of wages factories paid. Immigrants worked from dawn until dusk, and were still unable to make ends meet. Tateh, with his artistic talents, was one of the lucky ones.

Quote #8

The Jews, Ford said. They ain't like anyone else I know. There goes your theory up shits creek. He smiled. (20.6)

Jewish immigrants faced anti-Semitism from all sides in America. Here Doctorow is showing that Ford is perfectly comfortable revealing his prejudice against the Jews: evidence of rampant Anti-Semitism in America.

Quote #9

I made them for under five hundred dollars and each has brought ten thousand dollars in receipt. Yes, he said laughing, it is true! Father had coughed and turned red at the mention of specific sums. (33.10)

Don't show me the money. That's what Doctorow is illustrating here. The blue bloods, or people like Father who'd been in America for generations, didn't talk about money. When immigrants and Jews did, they were thought to be crass.