Monday, February 5, 2018
What role do the swindlers play in Ragged Dick?
Throughout Ragged Dick, there have been several instances where Dick has outsmarted those who have attempted to swindle him and others. However, it is unclear to me what significance these situations have, other than to show how common swindling may have been in 19th century New York City or to contrast how, as poor as he is, Dick would never steal.
First, there was the instance of the clerk who tried to accuse Dick of giving him a counterfeit bill. In this case, the incident could have been written in order to prove Dick's good heart and innocence. However, it seems very rushed as it is sandwiched between introducing Dick to the audience and meeting Frank.
The next incident involved a man trying to sell Dick and Frank a pocketbook, claiming that with the amount of money inside the pocket book, Dick would "get it back, and a good deal more" for the reward (34). Dick knew the whole time, though, that the man was a swindler. This is just another incident of Dick outsmarting swindlers.
The next incident, however, involved a swindler by the name of "Ephraim Smith" stole fifty dollars from a country man and gave him a fake check in return. In the end, Dick and Frank encountered the man and were able to give the country man his money back. By this point, there have been three cases of swindling within the first ten chapters of Ragged Dick.
This seems like a trend and it seems to be a reoccurring event throughout the book. I am very curious as to what the significance of these incidents could be, and what Horatio Alger's reasons were for writing these situations. Perhaps it could be because encountering swindlers was common in New York during the time, and Horatio Alger was merely portraying a daily reality. However, these situations may have also been written in order to highlight Dick's good nature and the fact that he has no desire to steal from others no matter how poor he may be. Dick simply believes in earning money through hard work, and for this reason, Alger may have used these thieves to contrast ways of gaining wealth. Since Ragged Dick is geared towards younger boys, it makes sense that Alger would highlight the importance of working hard and not stealing from others.
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To build on what you said, I would argue that there, beyond providing an accurate and didactic description of New York street life and creating contrast with evil that highlights Dick’s goodness, there are two other functions of the appearance of swindlers in this novel. One of them is to illustrate Dick’s cleverness and street smartness, thus making Dick more appealing to the reader, and the other is to link moral evil with defeat.
ReplyDeleteOne Dick’s defining characteristics that makes him interesting to read about for the audience is his wit and intelligence, frequently expressed in such statements as “Is Tombs, in gineral, a decent place of residency,” and these encounters serve to demonstrate this characteristic(Alger 37). In his encounters with the conmen, Dick uses his intelligence to prevail and come out ahead. For example, when Dick outsmarts the conman who dropped the wallet, Frank states that Dick was “too smart for him”(Alger 37). The victories won in such fashion are full the type of wit quoted above, and the intelligence and sharp tongue Dick displays distinguishes Dick and makes reading about him more entertaining.
Additionally, the triumph of the good Dick over the moral evil represented by conman establishes a theme that evil always fails. This is evident because every conman who acts against Dick ends up gaining nothing or even becoming worse off. The clerk finds that his employer “has no further occasion for” his services, the conman with the drop act loses the wallet and gains nothing, and the conman with the bank act does not get away with the money(Alger 14). In a similar manner, the morally bad Micky Maguire fails every time he attempts to terrorize Dick, while there are no circumstances when a bad person triumphs over a good person in the novel. This theme undoubtedly was intended to have didactic effects.
Thus, Alger’s use of conmen is an example of how he takes authentic elements of New York street life and uses them to present his characters and his themes.
I believe that the conmen exist to contrast Ragged Dick with those who have not fared as well in the poor living conditions they share. As mentioned above, a defining trait of Ragged Dick is his clever nature and refined street smarts. Because of both his innate abilities and acquired skill, Ragged Dick could follow in the paths of these conmen and most likely achieve more success than his more experienced counterparts. Yet because of his good nature, Ragged Dick doesn’t choose this path despite the ease it could bring him because he recognizes the importance of upholding his core values in his all aspects of his life. In this way, Alger contrats who Ragged Dick has chosen to become with what a less disciplined version of himself may have chosen. This juxtaposition of characters is not always as evident, as with the lying store clerk whose position indicates he has achieved a higher social status than our protagonist; however, this extends Alger’s parallelism to show that abiding by one’s morals has an effect on people of all social classes. The following two examples of the pocketbook and fake-check conmen illustrate a more direct relation to Ragged Dick as they exist within his social class. Perhaps these examples seem more sensible as well since immoral acts are often connected with lower classes in society, though this could be attributed to the fact that more attention is placed on this class’s potential for wrongdoing.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I think the swindlers are included as a quotidian aspect of life in New York City, I think that each instance of swindling served to reveal the types of scams and more of Dick’s character and his development. The first incident was with the salesman who is running a counterfeit scam, does show that stealing “ain’t my (Dick’s) style” (12). However, I think the more important aspect is that the salesperson “fancied that he could browbeat a ragged boot-black, but with a gentleman he saw that it would be a different matter” (12-13). This scam was one that could be run on those who hadn’t enough credit to defend themselves.
ReplyDeleteConversely the next scam was run on those who looked wealthy and allows the author to display Dick’s street smarts. It shows that someone like Frank, while he shares Dick’s appearance of being well-kept, would have fallen for the trick as he initially reproaches Dick for cheating the man (34).
The third swindling event mentioned, shows yet another type of scamming target and shows Dick on his transition to Richard. The man who was swindled was from the country and again did not have the proper level or type of intelligence to hold onto his money, but in this example Dick is able to secure the money for the gentleman again by looking so “determined and spoke so confidently” (53), I would argue that his credibility was also influenced by his new apparel in addition to his natural charisma. Also, I think in returning the money this further cements the theme of charitable work that is so essential to the character of Dick and it is this charitable sense that takes him well on his way to being Richard and the hero of this tale.
I think that both of the explanations you pose are perfectly plausible and to some degree both true. However, I believe the idea that the sheer number of instances involving swindlers is primarily a method Alger utilized to highlight the good, moral character of Ragged Dick as well as establish his worth as a character to the reader.
ReplyDeleteA common tool used in literature is the foil, where characters in similar circumstances behave in different ways. The swindling nature of many who live on the streets is fully understood by Dick. In having him outsmart those who wish to take advantage, Alger acknowledges the similar backgrounds of the characters in that Dick understands the way things work on the streets and the thought processes of his peers. The difference lies in their moral codes: Dick is willing to mess with people, but he desires to do no true harm through refusing to steal and taking other good, moral positions. The importance of this aspect of Dick’s character is reinforced throughout the novel. This includes when, upon returning Mr. Greyson’s change, an invitation to attend Sunday School is extended to him. After this he notes that he is “gettin’ up in the world...goin’ to attend church” (72).
The importance of moral conviction plays into the thought of Dick as a “worthy” cause as compared to a ragamuffin such as Mickey Maguire. Dick receives help because his moral convictions align with those valued by society (which in turn gets him into hot water with the likes of Mickey, who possesses very different values).