Horatio Alger's most popular
novel, Ragged Dick, not only brings young readers a
rather literal "rags to riches" tale, but also introduces the concept
of the best road to success. Throughout the novel, Dick is constantly reminded
that hard work and budgeting are the keys to achievement. Even Mr. Whitney
points this out before his departure from New York, telling Dick,
"Remember that your future position depends mainly upon yourself, and that
it will be high or low as you choose to make it" (Alger 57). His words
make the idea of success seem simple and easily achievable, but how much of
this is actually the reality? How much of his success would have been possible
without the help of others, guiding advice, or just pure luck?
From
the reader’s first introduction to Dick, it is clear that he has mainly worked
alone up until this point. When he compares himself to other shoe shiners on
the street, such as Johnny Nolan, Dick sees himself as a hard worker who knows
how to bring in regular customers. He learns how to bring in double the
customers and often shares his earnings from the day with others. However, it
isn’t until he starts working with others that luck really starts to change for
Dick. The greatest example of this is his relationship with Henry Fosdick. Although
Dick is able to find boarding and opens up a savings account on his own, he knows
he won’t be able to rise up in the world without an education. After their
tutoring has finished and Henry has taught Dick all that he knows, Dick thanks
him and earnestly says, “You’ve made me what I am” (Alger 99). This is only one
out of many times that Dick has advanced on his journey to success through the
help of others.
In
terms of luck, Dick also has a lot of that throughout the novel. He is constantly
getting into wacky situations that end up working out in his favor, especially when
it comes to helping out those that are more fortunate than he is. The best
example of this has to be at the end of the story, when Dick jumps off of a
ship to save the drowning son of James Rockwell. Although this was definitely a
brave thing to do, no amount of hard work or budgeting could make up for the
pure luck of saving a rich man’s son for a reward of $10,000 (Alger 126). As
our story concludes, it seems that Dick’s success will continue to climb as a
result of this heroic act. While Mr. Whitney’s words do have value, it’s important
to remember that no man can ever reach success entirely on his own, and Dick
certainly had a lot of help along the way.
I agree that luck played a signifigant role in Dick's climb out of poverty, as it almost always does, but I would also argue that his consistent kindness and generousity towards his peers regardless of their own attitudes also played a major role. Many of the friends and allies he made during the novel we're gained almost entirely because Dick was, at heart, a genuine, caring person. Not once throughout the story did Dick ever think of, let alone act on, negative impulses. Even when he had what was an extraordinary amount of money stolen from him, once the culprit was caught, Dick was suprised and even saddened by his arrest, stating "I'm sorry for you Travis. I didn't want you arrested. I only wanted my bank-book back." (Alger, 96).
ReplyDeleteIf he was not the way he was, I find it highly unlikely that the people whom helped him would want to or feel obligated to help him. Even in the lottery-winning odds of the incident with Rockwell's reward for saving his son, Dick would never have gotten said reward if he was not brave enough to try to help without second-guessing himself. Given what we see from Dick thoughout the book, I'd even argue that without being offered the reward upfront, he likely still would have done exactly what he did, and, while not the only factor, being a good person can almost always help someone in some capacity, much like it did with Dick.