Money, Success & Opportunity Within Ragged Dick and The Lesson
Horatio Alger's “Ragged Dick” is a story which expresses the morals found within a fourteen year old homeless boy. This young boy is quite different because of the morals and actions he showcases to others. Unlike other homeless individuals, Ragged Dick is a boy who puts forth honesty while acting in courteous ways which represent a true level of dignity. Although Ragged Dick is such a prideful and respectful young boy, he is also known as a “spendthrift.” Spendthrifts are individuals who are careless with their actions in terms of their spending as they have little no regard for their money. One example of this can be seen as we read, “Dick's appearance as he stood beside the box was rather peculiar. His pants were torn in several places, and had apparently belonged in the first instance to a boy two sizes larger than himself. He wore a vest, all the buttons of which were gone except two, out of which peeped a shirt which looked as if it had been worn a month. To complete his costume he wore a coat too long for him, dating back, if one might judge from its general appearance, to a remote antiquity” (Alger).
In this specific story written by Alger, the spendthrift is Ragged Dick, the prominent character in the story whose stance and position in the story's message changes. Though this boy is a homeless spendthrift, he is one who is visually pleasing to the outsider's view and yet a contradiction within himself as he is lazy to do much. The actions in terms of, the more appropriate lack of actions, is quite unexpected being that Ragged Dick is a spendthrift but yet has strong morals and regard for honesty with others. The story is quite appealing and yet at tim...
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...n character. The story begins by informing the reader that the boy Ragged Dick is a honest boy who has solid morals, yet this directly goes against his actions as he steals the wallet and turns violent as he beats up another boy. I feel that there are very few failures within Bambara's “The Lesson” as the main story is solid and consistent throughout. In the end, both stories are driven my money which is attributed to success. My final thoughts are that money is not what drives success. I feel that money can make becoming successful an easier task; however, it is true perseverance which holds the most power. Ultimately, both stories express that an education is the most valuable asset for individuals to have as it can help them achieve bigger better things while ultimately allowing them to become financially well off, successful and blessed with opportunities.
Of the four members of the Richard Wagamese’s Ragged Company (2009), Richard Richard Dumont, otherwise known as “Double Dick” underwent a traumatizing event in his life. Wagamese (2009) tells the story of Dick as he grew up on reserves, and was subsequently denied the opportunity of education for Dick. As Dick turned to alcohol to cope with his life after entering his father’s moonshine manufacturing business, his life finally led up to the moment that caused him to leave his family home, and forced him into poverty. Although Ragged Company is a narrative of four homeless people, the novel also reflects social determinants of health. Davidson (2015) defines the determinants as underlying factors of health disparities. Furthermore, the historical distal determinants, such as colonialism, inevitable affects the personable, individualistic proximal determinants such as income. Together, these two variant of determinants shape the lives of Aboriginal peoples, such as Dick. After the life-defining moment, Double Dick Dumont in Richard Wagamese’s
The laboring poor’s leisure activity was brief, casual, and non-commercial. Amusement was and had to be cheap. It mostly consisted of walks, visiting friends, and reading the penny press. The people of the Lower East Side entertained with sights of interest and penny pleasures such as organ grinders and buskers, acrobats performed tricks and vendors and soda dispensers competed for customers.
By structuring his novel where time is out of joint, Dick is able to illustrate that one’s perception of reality is entirely based on what one believes to be fact. This point is illustrated through Ragle Gumm, who, “from his years of active military life” in the beginning of the story, “prided himself on his physical agility” (Dick 100). It is not until time is mended again toward the end of the book that he realizes that it had been, in fact, his father that had served in the war. This demonstrates how one’s firm belief can turn into a reality, as it did for Ragle Gumm for the two and a half years he lived in the fabricated city of Old Town.
The first relationships with the upper-class that Ragged Dick builds are with Mr. Whitney and his nephew Frank. “I may be rash in trusting a boy of whom I know nothing, but I like your looks…” says Mr. Whitney (Alger 23). Dick’s appearance at the time could not be called proper by any means; he truly lives up to the name Ragged. Whitney talks more about his inner features rather than his physical ones; he could see Dicks accountability and honesty. Before he lets Dick give his nephew a tour he lets him take a bath, gives him a new suit, and even grants him five dollars. Mr. Whitney leaves Dick with some advice, “your future position depends mainly upon yourself” (79). The next person of the upper-class Dick becomes acquainted with is Mr. Grayson. The day before he acquires the suit from Mr. Whitney, Mr. Grayson employs Dick to shine his shoes; he doesn’t have time to wait till Dick gets back with his change. When Dick comes by to drop off Mr. Grayson’s change the next day, dressed in his new suit, he is invited to attend Mr. Grayson’s Sunday school class where Mr. Grayson would “do what he can to help [Dick]” (102). Dick probably would not have gotten the invitation to Su...
Many people gather outside Capone’s soup kitchen, as he hands out meals to the unemployed. “Wearing coats too big, they are likely given to them, and their hands in their pockets likely showing the class they are in. Nearly each one of them seems to have thick coats on, but aren’t wearing suits on underneath, and instead, are wearing plain button-up shirts without a tie. They seem to have pride in how they are dressing despite a lack of alternatives, not because they chose to dress as such. Most don’t smell very pleasant either, considering the fabrics they are wearing.
In Book VII of his famous poem, "The Prelude", William Wordsworth tells of his encounter with "The Beggar" on the streets of London. In my opinion, the Beggar is representative of the Black man in London. He is seen as a beggar, treated like one, and respected, or rather, disrespected, like one. He is merely a spectacle, a nuisance, living off the mere scraps of the English. Wordsworth describes the beggar saying, "...a blind Beggar, who, with his upright face, stood, propped against a wall, upon his chest wearing a written paper, to explain the story of the man and who he was. My mind did at this spectacle turn round as with the might of waters, and it seemed to me that in this label was a type, or emblem, of the utmost that we know, both of ourselves and of the universe; and on the shape of the unmoving man, his fixed face and sightless eyes, I looked, as if admonished from another world." We find the Beggar out of place, in a world clearly not his own. He is labeled, shunned, outcasted. He lies blind, desolate, unmoving. This is what the English society has done to him. Like the African natives in Heart of Darkness he is silenced, yet he screams a powerful image. His label says it all. Wordsworth, the Englishman, is unable to reach out to him, as he is "from another world." Yet he cannot help but be caught, trapped, by the "spectacle" of the Beggar. His message cannot be overlooked, just as Conrad's message is not to be overlooked either.
Alger, Horatio. “From Ragged Dick.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 2013. 252. Print.
...d by a difference in wealth. The difficulty to provide for a family, much less make more money to rise above the working class, caused children born into working class families to feel like they were “stuck” because they did not have the extra time or money to devote to an education. Instead of being able to learn and grow during childhood, children in the working class focused on the survival of themselves and their family. This contrasts the middle class where children had the possibility to earn an education before working in the future. Horatio Alger argued that anyone can change their situation by a little extra work and by improving their behavior, but Ragged Dick was an unrealistic character. Children born into poverty often faced a cycle, where guidance and luck could not even help the escape the working class because they were committed to their families.
One of the greatest classic novels in American history, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, lends itself to be an indispensible literary work that reinforces and challenges the core values and ideals that Benjamin Franklin expresses in his Autobiography. In the provided passage, the young Franklin arrives in Philadelphia in hopes of becoming a new self-made man and begins his journey with little money and few resources much like Gatsby. After arriving by boat, he tries to pay the people of the boat for his voyage but his payment is initially refused because he rowed the boat in order to get to Philadelphia. Franklin insists that they take his payment and says “A man is sometimes more generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty, perhaps through fear of being thought to have but little.” Eager to make a good first impression on the people of Philadelphia, Franklin attempts to establish that he is of substantial wealth that he is capable of paying for his own fare even if it is not required. Upon walking into town, he becomes hungry and inquires a boy about the location of the nearest bakery. Franklin proceeds to walk into the bakery asking for a biscuit then discovers that they are not made in Philadelphia, so he asks for a three-penny loaf. Once again, he does not receive a three-penny loaf but instead is given “three great puffy rolls.” Surprised by the amount of bread he obtains for a few pennies, Franklin eats one of them and walks into a Quakers meeting-house. After sitting down for a short period of time, he falls asleep during the meeting but is kindly woken afterwards without a word of complaint. Ben Franklin’s account of his first day in Philadelphia is a success story of one man’s attempt to captur...
His annotation of the “women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs and nobody, including them, could care less” (Updike 159) and “the sheep” (Updike 162) in the checkout lines are an illustration of his everyday repetitious life working at the A&P. He compares these women to animals showing his undeniable sophomoric juvenile behavior.
So the lesson is to make decisions that are made on an even keel. Sammy’s journey to becoming more of a young adult is a reminder that thinking through life altering decisions is a big priority where Sammy will never forget to do. Although quitting a job for a group of girls is not that important the principle of not letting other people interfere with how you run your life. Immaturity is the way some readers have interpreted Sammy, but it’s quite on the contrary. Society has taught us that we learn from our mistakes, some mistakes are life altering and others are used to glean information for use in the
Unable to conform to society’s norms, Richard Eugene Hickcok is raised by his parents who are modest farmers. In spite of his family’s hardship Dick’s childhood is pretty typical, he is popular throughout high school, plays sports, and he dreams of going to college. Due to his family’s lack of resources, Dick is unable to fulfill his dream of attending college. In spite of Dick’s unfortunate drawbacks Dick lives an average life, he marries has three children, and becomes a mechanic. Dick lives a typical American life, but soon after his third child is born Dick has an extramarital affair which ends his marriage. Shortly after his divorce from his first wife Dick remarries, but his second marriage ...
Conflicts are the backbone of any novel, without conflict stories would not be nearly as interesting! Conflicts can be caused by many things, in this novel the main problem is racism. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines is a novel based off of many internal conflicts between the characters, causing the characters to make different decisions and actions; this is important because the story is circled around racism causing many conflicts.
...rom the elite rich, who possess old money. Tom also claims that Gatsby “threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy’s”, (142) and can be said to be using his false wealth to mislead and confuse Daisy and Nick into thinking he is someone of their standards, which shows that Gatsby is not recognised as one of their class. This undercuts the glamorous wealth associated with Gatsby, and the ideal of equality in the American Dream.
Gatsby’s money does not “smell” right- however explicitly tacitly condoned by the denizens of Gatsby’s world illegal...