Ragged Dick: from rags to riches

In Ragged Dick we are first introduced to the classic American little boy. We have already learned what to expect from little girls in this time period through what we have already read. Now we are shown the many differences between little girls and little boys and the roles they play.

We see many lessons being taught in the story. We see Ragged Dick as little boy that is working for his own good. We see him as an independent, ambitious, and very sarcastic little boy. We get the idea that this is the way a little boy is supposed to act. When we see that Johnny doesn’t make as much money as Dick, we have the fact that, “That boy…ain’t got no ambition,” (351) brought to our attention. The reader then knows that ambition is an important thing for little boys to have to make sure they can support themselves. We also see that Dick is a very confident little boy in the fact that he will joke and be sarcastic with complete strangers. When Dick is talking to Mr. Whitney we see him being sarcastic about staying at the “Box Hotel” (361). Little boys are taught to be able to support themselves, have the work ethic to do a good job of this, and to be funny and sociable in a different way than little girls.

As for the fictionalized characters, I believe we see the switch from sole man powered jobs to more corporate jobs. We see that more thought and power is given to those in nice clothes. When Dick receives the gift of a change of clothes, we see men working the entrances of shops encouraging Dick and Frank to “walk in, young gentlemen” (373) and they are given more respect than Dick received when he was dressed in rags. I think that we are shown how more importance was slowly being given to the men who could afford a more luxurious life-style. Men used to be very down to earth, but now we see the difference between Dick and Frank that show the morphing of our society at the time.