Think of the Children!

Orphan Boys and Other Stories:

The thing that I found most notable about these readings was the black and white version of the world that the authors were presenting, especially James D. McCabe Jr. McCabe especially wants to point out that the boys living on the street will either a) turn to crime or b) be influenced so positively by the Children's Aid Society that their entire life will be turned around. Confusingly though he also calls the bootblack boys "sharp, quick-witted" (McCabe 139). It seems strange that he'd give them the qualities that one needed to succeed back then and then turn around and say that they're doomed to "fall into criminal practices" (McCabe 139). I feel like there ought to be some inbetween. While Alger's novel is just that, a fictional novel, it still shows that the possibility for advancement was there.

Crapsey is a bit more unbiased in his representation of the boys. He states that they were "pushed by the relentless force of untoward circumstances into the criminal practices" rather than by their own vocation (Crapsey 141). His portrayal is that of children at the mercy of circumstance and that turning toward criminal practices are more the result of necessity than any personal shortcomings.

The journal of a visitor from the country, reprinted in Brace's analysis, shows some of the boy's own understanding of their condition. Paddy comes on rather sarcastically saying "Why don't you save your money" (Brace 144). They, at least as presented here, approached their situation with a tone of detached irony because they know that their situation, appears at the least, hopeless.

So my question to you is this, Is Alger's view of the American dream more correct than the depressed society of boys shown here? Or can there be some truth to both statements? Are the boys discussed in these writings the Johnny Nolands of the real world? And if thats the case, were are the Ragged Dicks?

Elveda,
Jon

Floundering in a sea of Deus Ex Machina

Ragged Dick 11-27:

Ok, so the "Exciting Adventure" experience was so incredibly inane and trivial that I was almost painful to read. Alger seemed to run out of things for Dick to do and created a magical event to tie all the loose ends of the plot, or at least tried to. The ending he presents though is so contrived and petty that it loses some of it's meaning.

Just a quick recap of events;
1. Boy falls off boat, and father cannot help him because, for some reason, a well educated, aristocratic man does not know how to swim, even when his own son's life is at risk.
2. Dick saves him, despite the dangers and "doesn't hear" the reward offered by the man
3. Boy's father takes Dick and Fosdick in to his lavish home
4. Dick is offered an amazing job, given new clothes, and changes his name to the more "respectable" Richard.

Alger seems to be insinuating that if you try hard, such as Dick has an "earnest desire to improve" (86), that a magical series of events will allow you to succeed. It's almost as bad as the ending of the Twilight novels (Yes I read them, you can judge me latter); Bella becomes a super-special vampire with super-special powers, and wins the not-battle at the not-climax, just as Dick is a super-special boy with no real flaws, improves himself to become a super-special "respectable" person, and attains status after a not-climax with no real hardships. Dick faces no real challenges and succeeds in everything he does, how boring is that?

Of course we can call Alger just a poor writer, but I'd like to hope that he's oversimplifying the story for simplicity's sake, and for the sake of hammering in his message. Dick is successful because he works hard and is aided by certain members of a higher social class, just as Alger wants his readers to help "empower" the lower classes so that they too can become rich. Even just after Dick rises from the ashes of his old life, shedding his "Ragged" title in the process, he already turns around to help those he's left behind, "Somebody needs to look out for [Johnny Nolan]" (115).

So my question is anyone else disappointed in this ending? Should Alger have made the journey more difficult for Dick? And what if Dick hadn't succeeded, would that change the message of the story too drastically?

հրաժեշտ,
Jon