The book Ragged Dick, written in 1867, is about the success story of Dick Hunter. Dick is a bootblack in New York City who is near starvation. He sleeps in the streets every night and wakes up hungry and penniless. He is a shoeshiner who earns just enough to eat after a couple of hours of work in the morning. Alger describes him as a sociable boy with a good sense of humor, but then he wastes the money that he earns by going to nighttime shows or gambling. He is also described as being "above doing anything mean or dishonorable. He would not steal, or cheat, or impose upon younger boys, but was frank and straight-forward, manly and self-reliant. His nature was a noble one, and had saved him from all mean faults."

On a very fortunate day, Dick overhears a wealthy businessman talking to his nephew. The nephew had just arrived in the city for a visit, but his uncle has business to attend to and c

On the other hand, Dick is not the only one that succeeds. His roommate, Henry Fosdick, was also a shoe shiner but had not been able to earn as much as Dick. He lacks some of the qualities that Dick possesses. However, he did have an education that Dick never had. Dick convinces him to change his profession. With Dick's advice, he goes in search of a new job. He saw a help-wanted sign in a hat and cap store. The owner, Roswell Crawford, took a look at Henry and was automatically sure that he was going to turn him down. Luckily, Mr. Greyson came into the store and was glad to give Henry a recommendation. Since Mr. Greyson was wealthy man, Roswell had no choice but to hire Henry. With the help of Mr. Greyson and Dick, he was able to start a new life with a new profession. His weekly salary started with five dollars a week but was gradually increased to six dollars due to his hard work. This proves that Henry was able to gradually improve under the circumstances. Like Dick's success, it was also do to luck.

The book Ragged Dick helps provide us with a glimpse into life in the 19th century. In this book, Horatio Alger provided ideas that support the importance of education, saving, truthfulness, cleanliness, honesty, and virtue. All these fundamentals proved that any common man could turn into the self made man. His positive messages is still carried in American culture today because some people still find it true, inspiring, and reasonable.

Alger's novels had enormous popular appeal during the period of 1870-1930. This was a time when fortunes and profits were being made and limitless opportunities for advancement existed in the United States' growing industrial cities. Many Americans during this period became fascinated with acquiring great wealth. Their American dream became defined in terms of wealth and material possessions. But many people wondered how would individuals rise from rags to riches. The reason why the books of Horatio Alger were so popular is because his books provided a step to step method to success.

Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick was very popular during its time and many people accepted his step by step method to success through hard, honest work. However, most people today would do not accept Alger's philosophy. They would agree that success is not as easy to obtain as Alger describes. In fact, some describe Ragged Dick as discouraging and negative. In today's society, not everyone is offered that kind of opportunity.

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Approximate Word count = 2056
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)