Critical analysis of Ragged Dick

Gorman Beauchamp, 'Ragged Dick and the Fate of Respectability'

This article by Gormon Beauchamp talks about the formulaic way in which Alger wrote the novels in the Ragged Dick series, changing little things plot wise because they worked and it is what people wanted to read. I agree with the statement that his books were written with a strict set of guidelines and this is shown in the article when Beauchamp states that ‘at least a dozen Alger novels are not by Alger’ because after his death it was easy for his publisher to hire ghost writers to follow the same rules and reproduce similar stories. There is evidence to this formula as only two of Alger’s novels actually had a female protagonist. This is most likely because Alger’s main audience was young boys who could associate themselves with the characters in the novels and hopefully follow the same rags to riches lives of Alger’s protagonists.

John Swansburg, 'The Self-Made Man'

In this article by John Swansburg he talks about ‘self-made men’ like the boys in Alger’s novels such as ragged dick. He starts by talking about Benjamin Franklin who went from being poor and under harsh care by his brother to being one of the most famous scientists in the world.

In Franklins Autobiography, he talks about his life and it is shown that he, like the boys in Alger’s novels pulled himself up by his bootstraps from being penniless in Philadelphia. It is not as clear cut as just being able to help yourself though, as in Franklins life he already had knowledge of how printing worked which helped him get off the streets and was a large stepping stone in his life. This is similarly shown in Ragged Dick where external factors are shown to help the protagonist as well as him helping himself. Examples of this in the novel are when he gets a job as a Clerk because he saves a drowning boy. Were it not for the man offering him the job in his office he would have not been able to get such a respectable job.

Cara Erdheim, 'Why Speak of American Stories as Dreams'

Cara Erdheim’s article talks about shifting attitudes in the ‘American Dream’. This is shown in Ragged Dick through Dick’s aspiration in the novel to better himself to get better paying and more respectable jobs in order to escape his ‘old vagabond life’ which he subsequently does at the end of the novel. It is not clear whether Dick will keep on striving to be more and more successful or stay at the office as a clerk which raises questions but this open-endedness helps illustrate the point of Erdheim that the ‘American dream’ has shifting trends and is subjective.