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Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Jr.

Often time's moral code has to be broken in order to achieve success. Sometimes success has to be earned rather than inherited. .
             The beliefs between the Puritans and the Enlightenment era differ greatly. The values shown in Alger's "Ragged Dick " are applicable for both era's. The beliefs and traditions of a society relate to individualism as well as community. The Puritans lived by faith and reliance on God while the Enlightenment worked based off science, logic and reason. Much of the Enlightenment theory was made of logical theories that were completely unknown earlier in time periods. In addition, Ben Franklin's autobiography demonstrates these Enlightenment views. .
             Ben Franklin demonstrates the Enlightenment perspective on how to define order in your life. He used a very human centered approach to improving the individual. He gives 13 virtues needed to achieve moral perfection. Some of the important virtues were order, chastity, and temperance. He thought if the individual could master these traits would be a model citizen for the community. Franklin was more concerned for the common good and the freedom of the individual. He wanted the church to encourage the morality of the individual. In addition, the system Franklin developed was very much scientific and in support to the basis of the Enlightenment era was founded upon. .
             He would say deity instead of God and agrees that a god created the world and our souls are immortal. He believed church should teach you how to be a good citizen. Being a scientist, this experiment could be reproducible if you follow these steps and achieve success. However, this was a much different viewpoint for a Puritans.
             In "A Model of Christian charity, " Winthrop displays the importance of God in the community and doing what is necessary to please God. Their moral code was the dedicating their lives to God. God had a certain place for each individual in society.


Essays Related to Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Jr.

1. Ragged Dick

Horatio Alger, Jr.'s Ragged Dick, a story of a young boy's struggle for respectability, addresses various social issues by appealing to common moral standards. The main character, Dick, is introduced as a boy who is satisfied living on a day by day basis, until he decides "turn over a new leaf, and try to grow up "spectable." (pg. 55) As Dick continually attempts to improve his status, Alger educates his readers with a series of lessons of ... honesty, education, hard work and self identity. By appealing to the moral and social standards of the late nineteenth century, Horatio Alger, Jr. appe...

  • Word Count: 696
  • Approx Pages: 3

2. Ragged Dick

... happen to be very well respected in the community). Through this growing friendship, it is inevitable that Dick would automatically gain esteem from his contemporaries just by being associated with such well regarded people. In conclusion, Dick has inherent qualities about him that were ultimately responsible for his ascent from Ragged Dick the boot black, to Richard Hunter the respected young gentlemen. The fact that ... Dick was able to earn and save more money as time progressed was incidental. While Dick did frequently joke about the ... , the significance of money for him was purely...

  • Word Count: 1585
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Obtaining the American Dream

... as Benjamin Franklin and Horatio Alger Jr. who wrote works based on unrealistic expectations for the betterment of society. Franklin's "Autobiography" and Alger's Ragged Dick lay down a framework for moral perfection in order to gain success. The problem is that society is not guided by moral perfection but it is guided by wealth. Thus, these ... authors" works are not realistic and for the most part will not be followed by individuals of the ... living then morality would be realistic. The reality of money is that it is a contradiction in itself when it comes to morality. Just by having...

  • Word Count: 1708
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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