Ragged Dick vs. How the Other Half Lives: The American Dream

Introduction: Two Visions of the American Dream

Life in New York City at the end of the nineteenth century was exciting but tumultuous. Social class stratifications rose to the surface as successive waves of immigrants from widely different parts of the world spilled into the urban core, seeking their fortunes — or their version of the American Dream. As many succeeded in achieving upward social mobility, countless others failed. Stories of the urban poor were chronicled by fiction writers like Horatio Alger and by photojournalists like Jacob A. Riis. Through their respective lenses, it is possible to glean a comprehensive understanding of both the triumphs and failures of the American Dream.

Whereas Alger presents an idealistic picture of the American Dream — replete with its saccharine optimism — Riis offers a grittier and perhaps more realistic interpretation. Part of the reason for the glaring differences between these two texts is likely related to their timing. Alger's Ragged Dick was published in 1868, decades before urbanization and immigration occurred on the massive scales they would reach in the 1890s, when Riis chronicled social, economic, and political turmoil in How the Other Half Lives.

Individual Hope vs. Sociological Critique

In Ragged Dick, the title character starts off as a young, enthusiastic, and optimistic "vagabond" eager to improve himself, his character, and his station in life. Because Dick does achieve his goal of upward social mobility, Alger sends a strong message about maintaining hope in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It is important to note that Alger ensures his hero is inherently honest. Although Dick swears and gambles, "He would not steal, or cheat, or impose upon younger boys, but was frank and straightforward, manly and self-reliant" (Alger 3). Alger wants his protagonist to be someone readers can relate to — not a perfect boy, but one who is nevertheless morally upright.

In How the Other Half Lives, Riis does not focus on any single individual as Alger does. Instead of examining the psychology of the rags-to-riches story, Riis looks at the broader sociological issues that arise during the process of mass migration, urbanization, industrialization, and diversification. Because of his focus on tenement life, Riis ends up missing the glimmers of hope and optimism that doubtlessly remained alive in spite of the often deplorable living and working conditions the author witnessed.

Humor, Humanity, and Racist Stereotypes

Like Alger, Riis is interested in raising awareness about the nature of "vagabond" life. Riis calls people like Ragged Dick "tramps" and "street urchins." Unlike Alger, however, Riis interjects racist stereotypes into his work. His chapters on Jewish and Chinese people are especially offensive. About Chinese people in Chinatown, Riis writes, "Ages of senseless idolatry, a mere grub-worship, have left him without the essential qualities for appreciating the gentle teachings of a faith whose motive and unselfish spirit are alike beyond his grasp" (Chapter 9). Likewise, Riis states about Jewish immigrants in Chapter 10, "Money is their God. Life itself is of little value compared with even the leanest bank account." This statement is not only deeply bigoted but also contradictory, given that the preceding paragraphs describe the abject poverty of tenement residents.

Clearly, Riis's primary objective in How the Other Half Lives is in part to describe in grim detail how the squalor of immigrant living conditions reflects their alleged moral failings — people who, in reality, simply wanted to pursue the American Dream. Alger's Ragged Dick may be idealistic, but at least the story lacks the racist overtones that cloud any earnest sense of meaning or purpose in Riis's work.

In fact, there is humor and innocence in the way Alger describes his titular hero. When the reader first meets Ragged Dick, his appearance is described as "peculiar" and comical: his pants "belonged in the first instance to a boy two sizes larger than himself" (Chapter 1). Alger also uses humor to describe Dick's pieced-together outfit when the narrator notes that Dick's coat was "too long for him, dating back, if one might judge from its general appearance, to a remote antiquity." Riis uses no such humor. Instead of finding the good in people and in the diversity of the city, Riis seems angry and bitter throughout his book. This difference in tone is partly explained by circumstance: when Alger wrote Ragged Dick, New York was both less crowded and less diverse than when Riis wrote How the Other Half Lives.

Conclusion: An Incomplete Portrait

Neither How the Other Half Lives nor Ragged Dick presents the full picture of what life would have been like for the urban poor — those who struggled hardest to achieve the American Dream. Ragged Dick offers the original American Dream, suggesting that hard work and self-determination alone are sufficient for achieving upward social mobility. Alger's work is fictionalized. Riis's book is not, and through both observation and photography, Riis offers a startling and starkly realistic portrait of life in New York's turn-of-the-century tenements. Whereas Alger offers the American Dream, Riis presents something closer to an American nightmare — one in which the original desire for greatness had crumbled into false hope, hardship, and despair.

Works Cited

Alger, Horatio. Ragged Dick. 1868.

Riis, Jacob A. How the Other Half Lives. 1890.