Document Type

Presentation - Oral - to academic peers, less than or equal to 1 hour

Horatio Alger, Adolescent Purpose, and the Dignity of Work

Department

English

Date of Activity

Fall 10-11-2024

Abstract

Scholars often argue that Horatio Alger’s “rags-to-riches” novels for boys fictionalize and glamorize key values of the Protestant ethic, described by Max Weber as a religious “duty of the individual toward the increase of his capital, which is assumed as an end in itself, … combined with the strict avoidance of all spontaneous enjoyment of life.” This assessment leads to a quick ideological dismissal of the novels, joined with an even quicker aesthetic dismissal of Alger’s formulaic characters and improbable plots.

However, I would like to propose at least an ideological (if not an aesthetic) reevaluation of Alger’s Ragged Dick novels, a series of four books for boys, published between 1867 and 1869. The son of a unitarian minister, himself with some seminary training, Alger writes with a keen sense of the dignity of work, the centrality of relationships, and the importance of purpose for teenage boys. This message should strike today’s reader as particularly timely. American men disproportionately suffer from under-employment and social isolation, and even from so-called “deaths of despair” linked to alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide. Adolescent males are likewise falling behind in multiple arenas, from educational attainment to social connection.

In the face of today’s cultural crisis surrounding masculinity, Alger’s works show a different model: working-class adolescent males forsaking the aimless street life of their childhood and pursuing a particular calling within a particular community. Moreover, while Alger’s novels portray money as a largely positive force, they do not portray money as the ultimate good. More valuable by far are central Christian values of work, honesty, and relationship. In this way, Alger’s works may actually portray a principled, socially-embedded alternative to today’s hyper-individualized adolescence.

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