Ragged Dick Character Analysis

228 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Modern day cinderella story

A homeless, fourteen year old named Richard becomes a male Cinderella. His tale from rags to riches excites readers to read more. In the book Ragged Dick, Richard (Dick) lives as a homeless boy as usual during the time. His story of adventures are of him going through situations and getting into fights that he should not be. The transition from being a slum child to a proper gentleman is shown in the text. However, Dick was not such a hero. He was sorta a mooch. He would take the credit of what a Hero would have done. On a special day a man named, Mr. Whitney, basically grants Dick with a life of riches. The new suit, from the old clothes he was wearing allowed him to become a proper gentleman. Mr. Whitney, calls him Aladdin. For being clever

Show More
Related

  • Character Analysis: The Liles Of The Field

    256 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,

    Read More

  • Feed By M. T. Anderson Character Analysis

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    “The thing I hate about space is that you can feel how big and empty it is… ”

    Read More

  • Honky Character Analysis

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    The production of Honky is a satirical comedy, following the lives of five people and the language of racism. While it focuses on the plot of 5 characters, the storyline was well thought out and intriguing. One actor in specific, Gerard Joseph, who played Thomas, did an exceptionally well job at conveying emotion and projecting to the audience, in my opinion. The overall directing, from the actors to the soundtrack and lightning, seem to be presented with excellent detail. Overall, this production was well done.

    Read More

  • The Great Depression In The Cinderella Man

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the movie the Cinderella man Mike Wilson was a very wealthy person because he had a very nice lifestyle and he had money to live and get food for his family and he was currently working at the docks everyday cause he always got there first and jimmy got a job at the docks and while doing his job he meet a person called Mike Wilson In the movie James Braddock’s Wife was so happy that he came home from when he finished the fight and she never liked him fighting because she knows that he is going to get hurt from boxing and she was worried that they were not going to have money to feed their kids and themselves cause she had to stay with the kids and one of the three kids got really sick and nearly died because he did not have medical attention from a

    Read More

  • Nature vs Nurture in Truman Capote’s Novel, In Cold Blood

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Horatio Alger and the Gilded Age Dream

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of Horatio Alger’s books was called Ragged Dick or Street Life in New York, this book featured a young boot black named Dick Hunter and his friend Henry Fosdick. Dick in the beginning is living on the street and is never sure where he will sleep from one night to the next. He is fairly happy but wishes to be respectable. One day he offers Mr. Whitney, a businessman, to show his nephew, Frank, around New York City because Mr. Whitney is too busy to do it himself. After this day Dick’s life begins to change from a boot black with an uncertain life to a clerk who rents a room and earns ten dollars a week.

    Read More

  • Looking for Work, a Reader's Response

    343 Words  | 1 Pages

    He has an idea to be rich, and he wants it fast. Being nine year old, he starts out looking for jobs in his neighborhood. After doing two jobs, he earns a nickel, a quarter and two peaches. He has money, and he can do whatever he wants. So with a friend and his sister, they go swimming. Money, to him at this age, affects him greatly already. From his own family, he learns that without money, they'll always be poor and working class. He has the need to be higher in social class and he wants to be like rich people.

    Read More

  • Ragged Dick Analysis

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Cinderella Man Quarterly Assessment

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Cinderella Man was not purely a movie viewed for pleasure. Although it was entertaining and full of ebbs and flows of emotion, it taught viewers valuable life lessons that can be carried on through life. One is taught to be tireless in one’s dedication to striving for a better future, along with maintaining a happy family. James J. Braddock represents American’s endless struggle to succeed not only in the 1930’s, but also in modern day America. He was a man of integrity, and Cinderella Man perfectly portrays that.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in Ragged Dick, by Horatio Alger

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • A Raisin in the Sun Character Analysis

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry has many interesting characters. In my opinion, the most fascinating character is Ruth because of her many emotions and captivating personality. She goes through extreme emotions in the play such as happiness, sadness, anger, stress, and confusion. Ruth is very independent, firm, kind, witty, and loving.

    Read More

  • The Hero's Journey Paradigm

    1768 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The hero is discovered in the ‘ordinary world’ before a call to adventure” (Bancks). In the hero’s journey paradigm the hero begins in what is known as the ‘Ordinary World’ where they are living a normal life but there is something that does not seem right to them. In Black Boy, Richard is not sure in what is normal at a very early age his father abandoned his family, one of his biggest struggles in life was getting food to eat, there were days that they had nothing but water to drink. His mother takes the role of both father and mother, “Half sick and in despair, my mother made the rounds of the charitable institutions, seeking help. ...

    Read More

  • Racism In The American Dream

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    Certainly, Dick appears to be a white protestant boy, which seems to give him the best wages/salaries possible, yet this standard does not apply to people of differing racial backgrounds. The ‘reward” for black people that also worked hard (often for free under slavery) exposes the hypocrisy of Alger’s mythic representation of equality and fair wages in America in Dalton’s critique of stories, such as Ragged Dick: “ Black folk certainly knew what it is like to be favored, disfavored, scrutinized, and ignored all on the basis of our race” (Dalton 273). In many cases, people of color have also learned arithmetic, much like Dick, but they have been rejected from the labor markets due bigotry and racial alienation in the American workplace. Dalton’s analysis of Alger’s fictional account of the American Dream only applies to the protestant work ethic, as well as the opportunities that protestant white boys can achieve through “hard work.” Certainly, Alger’s mythical vision of the American Dream does not include minorities, which illustrates the problem of racism in the united states. These factors define the literary examination of the falsity of the American Dream through the problem of racism that is found in the writings of Alger, Dalton, Jen, Baldwin, and

    Read More

  • The Courage Of Richard Chapter Summary

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    When he was young his dad abandoned him and the family. Richard's mother then gets really sick and continuously is sick. Not having a dad and his mother not being able to be fully there for him causes him to do things he shouldn't. Richards uncles and aunts try to raise both his brother and him but richard didn't like the living situation. He then starts looking for jobs as still a young adolescent. Growing up he is faced with white people who constantly treat him bad and he learns about racism. He is motivated to work so he is able to move up north and he ends up liking it better than the south. The great depression comes into play people and him are left without jobs and he thinks that will save the black race. In the end, richard is set to the writer life.

    Read More

  • A Wrinkle In Time Character Analysis

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the novel A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, shows that Meg Murry is the true hero in this book. Meg has the feeling that giving in to conformity is the worst thing possible.

    Read More

More about Ragged Dick Character Analysis

Open Document