Horatio Alger’s Ragged Dick demonstrates a belief that one’s appearance can show one’s true character. When Alger introduces the appearance of his main character, he describes his objectively dirty and ragged looks, but editorializes on the way his character shines through in his face, noting that “some of his companions were sly, and their faces inspired distrust; but Dick had a frank, straight-forward manner that made him a favorite” (Alger 4). This implies that even though Dick has the vices noted in the rest of the chapter of extravagance, smoking, and gambling, he has some kind of inherent goodness that cannot be discounted in the face of his flaws.
With this preface, Alger implies that the makeover Dick receives with the gift of the new(ish) suit from Frank is a way of revealing the good character that Dick always had inside him. Dick has always appeared good and honest, but the new clothing just serves to make it more apparent.
In contrast to Dick’s obvious good nature, the woman he and Frank encounter on the carriage is immediately and visibly unkind. Alger describes how her “sharp visage and thin lips did not seem to promise a very pleasant disposition” (42) before the woman even has a chance to prove her rudeness by trying to take up multiple seats on the crowded car. This description makes it seem inevitable that the woman ends up behaving poorly and accusing the innocent boys of thievery. Her bad character is as obvious on her face as Dick’s benevolence.
This idea that one’s appearance can determine one’s abilities to be kind or honest seems like it should be incredibly outdated. Obviously there are kind-looking people who have done terrible things, and people who look villainous and are nothing but nice. However, this kind of description in Alger’s book reminded me of more recent books in which this trope appears. The class’s favorite example of Young Adult Fiction, Harry Potter, prominently features examples of how Harry’s abusive aunt, uncle, and cousin are physically as well as morally hideous. Why does this idea persist in literature to this day?
First of all, I definitely agree with you that Alger intertwines appearance and respectability in the novel. It reminds me of books such as Great Expectations¸ a society where appearances have such a large role in identifying social standing. I think the main reason that this idea has survived through literature today is that it is still a common practice in real life. Whether we want to admit it or not, I would bet that all of us have judged someone else based on their appearance at some point in our lives, and probably do so daily. After all, how many times have you seen a woman at Walmart with crazy hair, wearing dirty pajamas, and pulling a screaming toddler and thought, “I bet that lady is of high moral character.” Perhaps she runs the local animal shelter or gives blood six times a year, but a lot of us don’t take the time to find out before we dismiss her as an unpleasant person. I don’t mean to shame anyone, especially since I’m guilty of this too, but it’s important to recognize that, as a society, we haven’t progressed far past the mindset present in the novel. When Dick goes out to eat at a nice restaurant, he comments that “in his normal dress, Dick would have been excluded, but now he had the appearance of a very respectable, gentlemanly boy, whose presence would not discredit any establishment” (57). Don’t get me wrong, our society has vastly improved from the 1860s in regard to judging others, but we still have some work to do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Alger definitely uses appearance in a large way in this novel through the examples you cited. However, I’m not sure if he uses it to be intertwined with morality, I think he uses it more to be intertwined with respectability and professionalism. Even when Dick was dressed in his ragged attire, in one of the first events of the book, when Dick gets the money back from the store clerk after he claims it was fraudulent, the man who gave Dick the money believes him wholeheartedly and knows that the clerk is trying to rip him off. Dick still had all the same morals when he was Ragged Dick as when he was Richard Hunter, and his attire didn’t change that. However, I do think that the amount people respected him changed with his attire, which I think was the message Alger was going for. People judge you differently based on your attire, but I don’t think they judge you in a moral way, just merely in a way based on respectability and professionalism. I also agree that we still judge people in this way today, hence why it is a theme that has persisted throughout modern fiction.
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