Summary Of The Story 'From Ragged Dick'

Money and Success When we look at someone who is successful we see that they have a hardworking job and always being busy usually working 5-6 days out of the week. . They usually have a nice house, car and other assets. They have also worked extremely hard and long to get to where they are. We also tie the American Dream to the myth of money and success and how anyone can rise from rags to riches. This text enforces the myth of money and success showing that the American Dream is possible and gives people hope in that they too could rise out of the bottom. The story of “From Ragged Dick” shows someone that did work hard but also got the luck of saving a wealthy persons son. He started out illiterate shining shoes and barely getting by. He worked hard at what he did and tried to get a better income by getting a new job in business but had no luck. It showed that he was inspired to rise above where the world had started him at and become wealthier. Then after all the unlucky attempts at filling job applications he finally got a stroke of luck with saving that boy. He would have saved the boy without
what was being offered by the father because Dick is brave and generous. He did not want to see the boy die without a chance at being saved. Through his generosity and hard work the father, who was a wealthy business man, offered Dick a good paying job in his company. Dick got what he devoted all his time into and dreamed about.
The main reason of the myth for money and success is to give people hope that one day they will get fame and fortune. Most people do not get what they are striving towards. It takes a lot of hard work but also a lot of luck to come from rags to riches. “From Ragged Dick” shows that only hard work doesn’t get you very far. You need that stroke of luck like what Dick got from saving the boy. People also learn to value time a lot more when they are trying to get somewhere in the world. “Like most active boys Dick did not enjoy the prospect of spending half a day in bed…” (Alger 249). This quote shows that Dick did not like wasting time that he knew could be going towards his future success.
Even once Dick had felt like he succeeded by getting the $10 a week job he still worked just as hard if not harder. He wanted to make it so that Mr. Rockwell did not make a mistake in hiring him. Dick said “I’ll try to serve you so faithfully, sir, that you won’t repent having taken me into your services” (Alger 250). Once he did get the job he still felt the need for improvement and working even harder to get promoted to a better job. He started as a clerk and Mr. Rockwell told him that there was room for advancement in his job with higher pay. After getting the new job he also wanted to help out his less fortunate friend to get higher up in the ranks. That showed how generous of a person he was and that he did not just leave his old life completely and felt that he was obligated to help his friend.
This story also can go towards the myth of gender and what roles each one has. There is almost nothing in the story about a woman trying to work up in the world. It only talks about men and how they are trying to succeed. It makes the reader assume that the only people that worked hard and could come out of the bottom of the economy were men. In the late eighteenth hundreds woman did not really work outside of the house anyways. The story never even mentioned Mr. Rockwell’s wife or if Dick had a girl in his life. The author felt like he could leave all women out of the story because they might not have added to anything.
Myths like money and success and the idea of becoming rich from nothing is what has driven our economy forward. Without all of these myths there would be less rivalries and competition. With all of the competition you have to find a way to stick out and make yourself look like you are a better person than everyone else. Dick showed this in a lot of ways. His ability to learn quickly and work hard helped but his generosity and overall behavior towards his future inspired people to look at him as a person that will succeed and help out in their business. Mr. Rockwell said to Dick “Anyhow you’re a plucky boy, or you wouldn’t have dared to jump into the water after this little chap” (Alger 248). This showed that Dick is a very determined individual and anything that he puts his mind to he will try his hardest to accomplish. This showed in how he risked his life to save a total stranger. Dick’s uprising in society upholds the myth of money and success. He gave himself a better education by learning how to read and write within a year in hopes of having a better opportunity in the world. Dick also showed great determination towards his goals which made him stand out from all of his competitors. The story showed that to be successful you have to have a higher education, inspiration, self-determination, and to always have hope. But that does not always uphold and guarantee that you will succeed. Some people work hard their whole lives and never become wealthy or what they hoped they would be doing. Without these myths people would not be so determined to go out and try to change their lives. There would be less competition which is what holds the economy together. Without people having that hope that they could better their financial state by working hard and getting a good education the world would not advance. People would not be determined to do anything or go the extra mile on something if they believed it would not help them in any way. Hope is what drives people to stand out and try to better their lives. These myths are a gateway for hope in a lot of people to try to go out in the world and contribute to society.
People are driven to work hard because they believe they will succeed and make money.
But most of them have barely any chance to actually succeed because of all the competition that it takes to overcome and some luck. “From Ragged Dick” shows how hard it is in becoming successful in the eyes of society and what kind of luck it takes to get there. Without Mr. Rockwell’s son falling off the ferry Dick would have been polishing shoes until he had another chance at getting a higher paying job and in his circumstances he would probably not get a higher paying job. Without these myths society would not be the same. There would be no drive towards becoming wealthy or getting a high paying job. Competition runs the economy and without people working hard to get up in society there would be less companies and less people having important jobs that help keep society
running.

Work Cited
Alger, Horatio. “From Ragged Dick.” Rereading. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2013.