Clothes Make the Man Kara Cavallaro College

In his “rags to riches” story, Ragged Dick or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks, by Horatio Alger, Jr., we are introduced to the character of Richard Hunter (known on the streets as Ragged Dick), a bootblack working in the rough streets of New York City in the late 1860s. Alger’s novel falls in the category of juvenile fiction, a “story to teach”; this type of fiction helps with the mental state and development of young people and acts as a type of moral guidebook for young readers. This bildungsroman focuses on Ragged Dick’s emotional and psychological growth that paves the way for his later success. Although the plot is fairly simplistic and even in some ways predictable, one interesting aspect of the work is the reoccurring motif of clothing. Specifically Ragged Dick’s evolving characteristics and maturity can be directly tied to his change of clothing and appearance. His emotional and moral growth, as reflected by his attire, can be organized into three general stages: status quo (he is satisfied with his life as it is); epiphany (he is awakened to the possibility of a new and more respectable life); and rebirth (he becomes a new person in the sense of having the initiative to become successful). At each of...