Horatio Alger is known
for his inspirational writings for young men of the mid to late 1800s. Ragged
Dick, being one of Alger’s most popular book, focuses entirely on a young
boy trying to move his way up through the social class. The story of Ragged
Dick is in its own way a fairy tale geared towards young. By implementing
the most essential parts of a fairy tale such as a hero, magic, and a moral, Ragged
Dick inspires young men to be upstanding citizens.
The first, and arguably
most important aspect of a fairy tale, is the hero/protagonist. The protagonist
must be someone the reader can love but shouldn’t be perfect. Many great heroes
in literature have a flaw that holds them back from accomplishing goals. In
this story, the hero is Ragged Dick, a young boot-black who lives on the
streets of New York. Despite his ragged appearance and lack of formal
education, Dick is lovable and trustworthy. Dick has two character traits that
hold him back in the novel. The first is that he is “careless with his
earnings”, and the second is his lack of education (Alger, 6). Both character
flaws improve throughout the course of the story, making Dick a well-rounded
hero.
A second important
part of a fairy tale is magic. Though Ragged Dick does not implement an
obvious use of magic, there are underlying ways in which everyday magic is
present. Unlike most people, Dick is given unlikely opportunities throughout
the novel. One opportunity, in particular, makes Dick’s success possible. By
meeting Mr. Whitney and Frank outside of a shop, Dick’s journey towards the
American Dream can properly begin. Dick’s unique street smarts act as a magical
gift for him. He learns how to read people in his everyday life, and his quick
thinking allows him to make influential friends and avoid getting scammed.
The final aspect that is
present in all fairy tales is an over-arching moral of the story. Although Dick
was not afraid to bend a few rules on the streets to get by, he never steals.
As stated by many characters throughout the novel, “there are a great many boys
who begin low-down… that have grown up respectable and honored. But they had to
work pretty hard for it” (Alger, 40). The moral of hard work paying off is
constant throughout the story and reminds both the reader and Dick to continue
to work hard. Luckily for Dick, his dedication does pay off, as he is in a much
better place financially at the end of the story.
Although
Ragged Dick was not advertised as a fairy tale, it was written to
inspire young men, just as many fairy tales were aimed towards young women.
Through the uses of very popular motifs of fairy tales, Ragged Dick became
and a motivational story for many.
Thinking of Ragged Dick as a kind of “fairy tale” is a very unique way to view it. I believe that the view makes a lot of sense. I definitely saw the moralistic part of the story throughout the book. From the very start, Dick had an innate sense of right and wrong especially when it came to stealing (Alger, 3). However, as was stated, Dick would so often waste the rest of his income. The gambling and cheap attractions were a sign that he did not understand how to properly save money. This led him to live day by day, always having to sleep on the floor with no real stability (Alger, 7).
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to bring up how he gradually changed in the story. It starts slow with him making deposits in the bank to giving it away to his friend Henry Fosdick. When Dick saw that his friend was in need of new clothing to increase his chances of getting a job, Dick resolves to give him money to do so (Alger, 89). This can be seen as the opposite of gambling away one’s earnings: giving it to another for their benefit.
Besides the clear arc in Ragged Dick’s story, the other comparisons to fairy tales definitely caught me off guard. It was interesting to see how the random acts of extreme kindness can be likened to the magic found in fairy tales. I liked the use of the words: “everyday magic”. All in all, the idea that Ragged Dick is written in the style of a fairy tale is very interesting and I agree with it wholeheartedly.
I think that this is a very valuable way to view this book, as fairy tales are stories that we can all relate to. Fairy tales are meant to teach young people lessons about life that are often hard to learn on our own. I believe that Alger had the same goal when writing this book. I had not thought about this book in those terms, but you are right that Ragged Dick follows the basic structure of a fairy tale. This book tries to impart the importance of hard work and honestly onto young people. Alger does this by giving Ragged Dick a strict moral code by which to live—he does not steal or lie, and comes by all of his opportunities honestly.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that bothered me most about this book at first was that Ragged Dick's initial success seemed to be due only to luck and the kindness of a stranger. However, when viewed through the lens of a fairy tale story, Alger's choice to do that actually makes a lot of sense. Ragged Dick even mentions feeling like Cinderella “when she was changed into a fairy princess” after Mr. Whitney gives him new clothes (Alger 18). While I originally thought that the moral of learning hard work and perseverance was contradicted by Mr. Whitney's kindness and Ragged Dick's blind luck, looking at this book as a fairy tale justifies that decision to me. I think that fairy tales are sometimes more hopeful than they are plausible, but that in and of itself is a lesson to children to never lose faith in the world. Alger intends to teach lessons to the youth in this book, and he does so in a way that truly does mirror the fairy tales of our youth. This medium of storytelling provides some leeway in the plausibility of the story. I had not originally thought of the novel in this way, but it is a very interesting take on the story.