A Traditional Rags to Riches Story?

Throughout Ragged Dick there have been elements that coincide with a typical rags to riches story.  Dick experiences an almost magical event that greatly changes the course of his life.  Although there is no fairy godmother with a magic wand, there is the kindness of strangers like Frank who drastically change the way Dick goes through life.  Despite the some similar aspects to a rags to riches Cinderella kind of story, Ragged Dick does deviate from traditional aspects of these stories and follows its own path.

Ragged Dick is considered to be a bildungsroman or coming of age story but one that has some of the same elements as a rags to riches story.  As the novel progresses, Dick goes through numerous trials while trying to "'grow up 'spectable'" (Alger 72). Typical rags to riches stories start off with a character that is perceived to be worthy of some sort of supernatural interference that will help the character to improve their situation above what they would have been able to do on their own.  This character is kindhearted, possesses some level of intelligence, and is willing to help others who are worse off than they are. Dick fits this description of a typical protagonist in a rags to riches story. Supernatural help for Dick comes in the shape of Frank who is Dick's real-life fairy godmother.  Frank bestows a new suit and a desire to move up in the world upon Dick.  Frank does not have a magic wand but he does have access to a substantial amount of money, which to Dick is essentially the same thing as a magic wand.  The new suit and desire to be better stand in place of Cinderella's dress and glass slippers. Although Dick's new clothes don't vanish at midnight, they serve the same purpose as Cinderella's dress: improve the social status of the person who wears them.  In both stories, the appearance of having a higher social class sets in motion a series of events that drastically alters the lives that both protagonists live.  Finally, both stories end with the protagonist in a significantly better situation than the one that they started in.  The way in which the protagonists achieve this happy ending is where Alger begins to shift away from the typical rags to riches story.

In Ragged Dick, Dick has to work for his success while Cinderella has it handed to her.  Dick has to take the necessary steps to becoming respectable like opening a bank account and getting a tutor to "introduct 'em into the flowerbeds of literatoor and science" (Alger 74).  All Cinderella has to do to get her happy ending is endure the cruelty of her stepmother and stepsisters.  Riches are sprung upon her while Dick has to work for every penny he earns.  In this way Ragged Dick focuses on how someone can pull themselves up by the bootstraps while Cinderella emphasizes fate more than hard work.  Another way in which Ragged Dick doesn't quite fit the model of a rags to riches story is that there is no one antagonist who you can point a finger at.  While Micky Maguire is a bully, Dick is able to easily defeat him and he is not the cause for all the hardship in Dick's life.  Dick's main challenge is the circumstances in which he lives.  Despite all of the roadblocks, Dick is able to overcome his situation and move up in the world with some similarities to circumstances seen in a traditional rags to riches novel.