Horatio Alger Jr. was the class optimist par excellence: born to favor, even for real wealth, and convinced that poverty could be easily cured with a simple hard work, proactivity and good character. The formula didn't really work for him personally – he died almost destitute – but at the height of his fame he published dozens of titles aimed almost exclusively at young male readers. The novels were extremely popular in the late 19th century, where the "American Dream" of a comfortable, middle-class life was an extremely marketable cultural meme. The Algiers novels therefore featured young men who, driven by circumstances into poverty, gradually worked their way toward middle-class respectability or beyond despite occasional setbacks. The phrase "Horatio Alger story" became part of the English lexicon partly because of the type of story for which Alger became famous and partly because of the recurring character types, themes and plots that Alger used to illustrate his moral tales. By creating an empowerment fantasy for his readers, he shows that a young man with the right middle-class values ​​can overcome poverty and setbacks, even as serious as being an orphan. The heroes of Algiers never receive anything for nothing: such windfalls come from performing heroic or risky acts in the selfless service of others, and they are small utilitarian gifts like a new piece of clothing given by an older mentor whose they have respect. won. Troubled as they are by cowardly rivals or antagonists, the heroes of Algiers are protected by their mentors and offered opportunities for advancement because of their integrity and character. They undergo a long period of hard work which is ultimately rewarded with a higher level of comfort and economic security than before. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Horatio Alger's heroes are almost always teenagers, the group of readers his books were aimed at. But the boys of Algiers are forced by circumstances to assume their adult responsibilities very early on. In the absence of an adult protector, the hero must provide for his needs. He can also assume a parental role by providing for the weakest members of the community. Younger siblings, especially brothers, are common in Algerian families. But even lonely orphans like Richard Hunter care for and protect younger, more vulnerable boys like Henry Fosdick, whose hero advocates like a parent. Horatio Alger's heroes are a little larger than life before they even begin their individual lives. increase. They're not necessarily the biggest and strongest boys in history, but they're still above average in one way or another. They tend to be braver, stronger and fitter than their peers. Many outperform wealthier boys their age in rowing contests, foot races, and other competitions of skill and athletics. This does not prevent them from being harassed by older, stronger children or adults. Indeed, antagonism from more powerful people is something that every Algerian hero experiences at some point in history. Horatio Alger's heroes are frequently robbed, beaten, accused of theft, or robbed of their rightful inheritance. Often persecution comes from a much stronger adversaryand richer. This is a plot device that serves as the main source of conflict for the hero. Most of Algiers' heroes are smarter than average. Richard Hunter has a talent for snappy feedback and quickly learns math and reading when mentored by a younger peer. Harry Walton in Bound to Rise is intelligent and has a great aptitude for scientific learning. They also display an attribute commonly known as “pluck,” which is a combination of proactivity, assertiveness, confidence, and courage. However, this is not a universal rule. Phil the Fiddler's relatively small and weak Filippo, for example, is a rare exception. He is neither assertive nor "brave" at all: he is terrified and submissive because of the way he is exploited by his guardians. Over the course of the story, he eventually breaks free and finds a more loving group of adoptive parents. But most of Algiers' heroes achieve economic security by assuming adult responsibilities until they restore their family's economic standing or have the opportunity to complete their studies or take a job. employment that will eventually provide them with upward mobility. Many heroes of Algiers have a special skill. . In Phil the Fiddler and The Young Musician, the heroes Filippo and Philip use their musical talents to support themselves. In The Young Acrobat, Kit has a talent for gymnastics. Giving the hero a way to temporarily support himself from a young age allows a young male reader of the same age to imagine himself in a similar role. Faced with adversity, Algerian heroes never give up. They are confident in their ability to overcome obstacles, and even if they experience setbacks, they are not defeated. They also possess extraordinary maturity for their age, perhaps due to their life experiences. This attribute invariably attracts the attention of authority figures who, impressed by the hero's honesty and sincerity, function as mentors and advisors in ways that advance the plot by creating opportunities for the hero's advancement. . Regardless of how an Algerian hero begins his life, he has strong middle-class values ​​and ethics even before he begins his struggle for personal success. The homeless Dick in Ragged Dick, for example, is ashamed of his illiteracy and sloppy writing. Unlike most of his peers who live in the now and avoid learning, Dick has a strong desire to cultivate middle-class habits, such as saving money and getting an education, because he believes that these habits will lead to the kind of opportunities and prosperity experienced by the middle class. the class appreciates it. Exactly why he should believe this is unclear, especially since many of his peers continue to spend every penny they earn on smoking, eating oyster stew, or watching shows at the Bowery . He really wants to progress in life, especially after the brief taste of respect he experiences while guiding another young man in New York. But it's unclear how exactly he knows which habits to cultivate to achieve this. His work ethic never wavers. The relatively bourgeois behaviors of saving one's money in a bank account, renting long-term accommodation, and staying in these accommodations at night to be supervised by Henry Fosdick are completely foreign to Dick, yet Alger presents them. as something the character wants and desires. Dick never questions the necessity or practicality of saving, nor is he shown bored or frustrated by his lessons. He willingly goes to church and Sunday schoolwith the Greyson family. Such an appetite for bourgeois values ​​is not normal for someone who is used to going out every night, and yet Dick never feels deprived. This proves that, even though Dick was born poor, he still has the same values ​​as someone born into the middle class and believes in the connection between sacrifice and long-term reward, even if he doesn't see much evidence of it at the start. Even Dick's aversion to stealing and his penchant for truthfulness are presented as innate virtues as opposed to things Dick may have learned from his environment. When he suffers a setback such as being robbed, Dick does not question the validity of his bourgeois strategy. The setbacks he suffers are due either to substantial generosity toward others or to the unkindness of others. For example, he never loses patience with the idea of ​​saving and risks a day's salary. Indeed, he demonstrates a maturity and discipline far beyond what one would expect from a boy of his age. Many Algerian heroes have a much more plausible reason to believe in the virtues of the middle class, because they were raised there. They are the sons of inventors, business owners, farmers, or other men in respectable professions. Until their fathers die or disappear, they are raised according to normal middle-class ethics. Respect for religion, aversion to theft and truthfulness are things that have been taught to them from a young age. Indeed, the hero of The Young Musician expresses himself with remarkable diction and grammar compared to other characters, including those from wealthier families. In many ways, Algerian heroes can be seen as fish out of water: by entering the middle class, they are finally gaining ground. access to their natural social element. Before that, they display their superiority over their peers in various ways. In Bound to Rise, Harry, the son of a poor farmer, is portrayed as a passionate scholar who was ranked first at the local school despite circumstances that prevented his regular attendance: He had a burning thirst for learning and , as young as he was, ranked first in the district school he attended. I do not intend to present my young hero as a marvel of scholarship, because he was not. He had improved the opportunities he had received, but these were very limited. Since the age of nine, his schooling was essentially limited to eleven weeks per year. There was a summer school as well as a winter school; but during the summer he only came irregularly, being obliged to work at home. [1]Algerian heroes are ambitious. Once they crave advancement, they are no longer content with the poverty they once lived in. This produces conflicts with their lower class peers. One of the reasons Dick and Mickey have a rivalry in Ragged Dick and Fame and Fortune is because Mickey resents Dick's gradual progress toward his goal. Meanwhile, until the transformation is complete and the hero gains a rightful place on the next rung of the social ladder, he often feels conspicuously uncomfortable in the presence of people he perceives as legitimate members of the class to which he aspires. Dick expresses this feeling as that of a "cat in a strange attic." [2] The occasional embarrassment or snub directed at the hero by longtime members of the upper social classes creates additional motivation to work hard and seek opportunity and education. This is important, because Algiers plots often show the characters progressing through several stages of difficult struggle before succeeding orfind the luck they need. None of Algiers' heroes - almost all of whom are men - have effective parents. The fathers are visibly absent. In Ragged Dick, the hero Richard Hunter is an orphan. The same goes for Kit, the hero of The Young Acrobat of the Great North American Circus. In Young Captain Jack, Jack Ruthven has a widowed mother. The maternal characters in Algiers novels are almost invariably flat: the mother, if she exists, is incapable of effectively raising her children alone because of illness, poverty, or general incompetence. She is often in danger that she doesn't have the wits to get out of and must be saved by her teenage son. In Phil the Fiddler, the hero's mother is alive but lives in Italy. So she can't help him. Missing, sick or ineffective parents create a feeling of despair and reinforce the dramatic value of what happens to the hero. They also create an opportunity for another running character – the scheming guardian or authority figure – to harm the hero. Indeed, in The Young Acrobat, it was the death of Kit's father that triggered the events of the plot: five years before the death of Kit Watson's father. He resembled Kit in appearance and was very popular in Smyrna. His brother liquidated the estate and had lived in luxury ever since, but Kit was unable to tell whether the property was his or his nephew's. He had asked the question on occasion, but his uncle showed distaste for the subject and gave evasive answers. [3] Sometimes a character's father from Algiers returns, having been feared dead or lost, and sometimes a character experiences a happy ending in which someone important or respectable character turns out to be the hero's father. But most fathers are missing. This is not due to the voluntary abandonment of the mother or children – art in the case of Algiers did not imitate life – but to illness, military deployment, death or some sort of disappearance. In Bound to Rise, the main character's father is poor and well-meaning, but incapable of solving his own problems, much less caring for his son. Fatherlessness must have resonated with young readers whose fathers perished in the Civil War, which had barely ended when he began writing. Removing or neutralizing the hero's parents is not just a cheap ploy to stimulate empathy in the reader. . It's also a plot device that explains why the main character is poor through no fault of his own. It provides a rational explanation for why the hero is poor and needs progress. This also makes the character more vulnerable to theft or other forms of attack from antagonists, and ensures that the character does not have a relatively easy path to a respectable job or similar opportunity for advancement. So, by ensuring that his heroes do not have a strong parental figure, Alger not only creates the initial circumstances that start the plot, but also sets the stage for the obstacles that the character must overcome over the course of the story . The heroes of Algiers start with very little. in terms of material resources and must survive through their own hard work and ingenuity, but the author frequently includes scenes in which the hero gains money, a job, or some sort of advantage through an act of bravery and self-sacrifice. This serves two purposes: it shows the character's courage and inner nobility, and it gives the character a boost and help along their path. The windfall or stroke of luck never comes from finding money or winning a bet: Algerian heroes must do something in exchange for what they receive. InRagged Dick, the main character jumps into the Hudson River to save a drowning boy, unaware that the child he saves is the son of a rich man. The grateful father seeks to reward Dick by giving him a better job. Other heroes of Algiers have attracted the attention of wealthy clients by saving their drowning children, but sometimes the child is in danger from a fall, possibly in front of a fast-moving car. In The Young Musician, Philip receives a monetary reward for helping to save Farmer Lovett from a burglar: What was his surprise when he took out three bills – two twenty and one ten – fifty dollars in all! There was a piece of paper on which was written in pencil: “Feel free to use this money, if you need it, as you probably will. I may as well spare it, and I will be happy if it proves useful to him who has done me a great service. JOHN LOVETT. [4]The saved person, or his father or guardian, rewards the hero materially. Sometimes the reward is money or a job, and sometimes it's a set of significantly better clothes than the ones the hero is wearing. But the windfall is never enough to take the hero from rags to respectability. Philip receives enough from Farmer Lovett to pay his immediate expenses, but it is stolen from him. Later in the novel, after developing the necessary survival skills, he rescues the son of a Wall Street broker who has run away from home and brings the boy back to New York. As a reward, he is given the opportunity to get an education: Mr. Taylor, the grateful father, sends Philip with the boy he saved for a full year to a private academy in Connecticut to finish his education. that the heroes of Algiers never receive enough windfall to ensure their survival: they still have to work. Philip Grey, in The Young Musician, is given the opportunity to study and educate himself, but the work is not done for him. Richard Hunter, in Ragged Dick, gets a job that represents a new step for him on the socio-economic ladder. But he still must work to earn a living, and he receives the opportunity to do so only after he has already educated himself to the point where he is competent to do so. Before being offered the work, Richard must provide a sample of his writing. Without Henry Fosdick's months of careful tutoring, Richard would not have qualified. Horatio Alger uses clothing to illustrate the social class occupied by a character. It vividly depicts the ragged but bizarre costume of the main character of Ragged Dick, and it serves not only to create a visual representation of the character, but also to show the character's place in the story's social hierarchy. At the top of Dick's world are the Greysons, the Rockwells and other wealthy but self-made businessmen, wealthy independent rural "squires", bankers and their families. Small business owners are slightly lower: traders, farmers and tradesmen. Below them are the clerks and store and office workers, who often made less money than a black boot, but who still ranked above the factory workers, landlords, bartenders and bartenders. workers. These individuals, the working class, are usually adults and are also a social rung above the children who blacken shoes, sell matches or newspapers and who are often homeless. Almost every Horatio Alger novel contains what today would be called a "makeover" scene. in which the main character is given the opportunity to dress "above" their current socio-economic class. Sometimes this involves putting on a uniform ora costume at the circus; other times the clothes are loaned or given to the main character. Alger's goal with the clothes isn't just to illustrate how much people rely on appearances when interacting with others, especially young adults. It also shows that the main character's class aspirations are neither bad nor unnatural: the character, when properly dressed, is treated by outsiders as someone who belongs in a good restaurant or store . When Dick Hunter first tastes respect in Ragged Dick, it is partly due to the clothes he wears. This taste for respect is what sparks the desire to make change permanent. As a sign of acceptance by a member of a higher class, heroes of Algiers are frequently given clothing as a reward for helping someone else. Philip Gray in The Young Musician receives a new set of clothes for finding Henry Taylor and bringing him home; Dick Hunter gets clothes twice. The first time, it's part of his payment for accompanying a rich man's son to New York. The clothing identifies Dick as a young "swell", significantly above the level of an ordinary boots shiner. His second item of clothing is a gift he receives after saving Mr. Rockwell's son from drowning in the Hudson River: "When Dick wore his new suit, he observed his figure with forgivable complacency. It was the best he had ever worn, and it fit him as well as if it had been made expressly for him. [5] He later continued to work for Mr. Rockwell. Indeed, a key element of Algiers' stories is the need for an older mentor. His heroes are invariably aided, protected, and guided by an older man in the community who has recognized the hero's inherent worth and potential. Often the hero does something unusual to get the mentor's attention, such as an unusual display of honesty or courage. The mentor never provides money directly, except as payment for services rendered, but will often provide a new set of clothes, a character reference, a job opportunity, or protection when the main character is falsely accused of a crime . In Ragged Dick, the hero and his best friend are invited to church and Sunday school by the wealthy Mr. Greyson, who provides Henry Fosdick with the character reference he needs to work in a hat store instead of blackening boots in the street. In the sequel Fame and Fortune, Mr. Rockwell and his colleague Mr. Murdock believe in Richard and defend him against a false theft charge. In some Algiers novels, the main character turns around and mentors, provides for, or protects others younger or more vulnerable boys. Dick, for example, receives charity from his first mentor, the wealthy Mr. Whitney. Later in the novel, Dick gives five dollars of his savings to Tom Wilkins to feed and shelter his starving family and sick mother. It will be remembered that when Mr. Whitney, upon parting with Dick, presented him with five dollars, he told him that he could give it back to another boy who was having difficulty making progress. Dick thought about it and realized that after all he was only paying off an old debt. [6]The characters of Algiers are generally assailed by a kind of cowardly rival who, although larger and stronger than the hero, fails to hinder him in the long term. Mickey, from Ragged Dick, is an older, bigger boy who steals and bullies others until Dick and his employers find him a better job in Fame and Fortune. In this book, the main antagonist is Mr. Gilbert, a store clerk who works with Richard. Squire Green, the creditor