the horatio alger myth

[62], Before his death, Alger asked Edward Stratemeyer to complete his unfinished works. This myth was important to the general population because as the United States was becoming more corporate and industrialized it because harder for people to control their own fates. [40], In January 1867 the first of 12 installments of Ragged Dick appeared in Student and Schoolmate. When the odds are stacked unfavorably, one often has to convince oneself that "there is a reason to get up in the morning". While a child during the late 50s and the early 60s I noticed that my mother had a collection of Alger’s works which she obviously prized. What really bothers me is how the supposed (religious right) fail to heed the clear advice of spiritual teachers like Jesus, who advised us not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moths corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal! [1] "By leading exemplary lives, struggling valiantly against poverty and adversity", Alger's protagonists gain both wealth and honor, ultimately realizing the American Dream.

Even in this country many responsible people thought they were wisely adding to their retirement funds like pensions, their 401Ks, and investments via the TBTF banks run by (Too Corrupt to Care Thieves) on wall street, who deliberately destroyed the economy in 2008!.

[49], In New York, Alger continued to tutor the town's aristocratic youth and to rehabilitate boys from the streets. There were never full sentences of description, just clauses attached to the sentence identifying the character. In an Alger story at least, the hero wins "because the happy ending is what Horatio Alger is all about!". Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The end of Silas Snobden's Office Boy says, "As for Frank, all goes smoothly with him. Psychologically, the Horatio Alger myth opens many doors. Wednesday at 10:12 AM. The "rags to riches" stories that Horatio Alger Jr. wrote in the late nineteenth century helped the population of the United States believe the myth that anyone could work hard and become rich, a "self made man". During the 1930s and 1940s, Alger's works were virtually out of print and many commentators seemed to have regarded Alger as a propagandist, with one referring to him as "the author who celebrated capitalist markets and insisted that in the United States, any poor boy with patience and an unwavering commitment to hard work can become a dazzling success". He was such a popular author in this time period that he was often working on 3 or 4 stories at the same time. We need to fight for universal health insurance and jobs or income for all families. Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002. Moore, Michael. ", | Last update: The above is morally pertinent to many upper class people as well as the top 1%–or .1% but I have always doubted the universality of its application and the certainty of its worthwhile ends? I noted one portion of your article which especially caught my attention: “Many Americans, however, have been conditioned to think of prosperity as a pie, and when some people are served a slice, it subtracts from what other people get. [57], He suffered from bronchitis and asthma for two years. [23] He attended Harvard Divinity School from 1857 to 1860, and upon graduation, toured Europe. Yes! He said: “Those pins belong to the bank, and if I catch you hanging around here any more I’ll set the dog on you!” Then I left, and the mean old fellow kept the pins.

His writings were so popular that the term ‘Horatio Alger story’ came to describe the idea that anyone could succeed in America. The ideology of success—the notion that anyone could make it with enough hard work—was widely promoted in Gilded Age America. [50] He was writing both urban and Western-themed tales. Alger wrote, for example, that it was difficult to distinguish whether Tattered Tom was a boy or a girl and in other instances, he introduces foppish, effeminate, lisping "stereotypical homosexuals" who are treated with scorn and pity by others. How many other men and women have lived who possessed character comparable to Honest Abe’s and worked as hard as he did, but are now forgotten because they died before their efforts paid off? Yet even before he was catapulted into the history books, he still possessed those skills and traits that made him famous, even though he was then quite unknown.

Finally, at age 51, he ran for president. The name Alger came to have great meaning in the late nineteenth century. Allocate some funds up front pays dividends in the future — although, perhaps, not to us, personally.

In the summer of 1881, after James Garfield was assassinated, Alger dropped everything, working night and day for three weeks to write a life of the slain president, the first "quickie" biography in American history.

The backdrops of these novels, however, became the American West rather than the urban environments of the northeastern United States. He is diligent in business and is likely to become a rich man." [27] Alger initially wrote for adult magazines, including Harper's Magazine and Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, but a friendship with William Taylor Adams, a boys' author, led him to write for the young. [35][a] Alger denied nothing, admitted he had been imprudent, considered his association with the church dissolved, and left town. And we definitely need to roll back the dividend tax cut and the cut in estate taxes, and raise taxes on the rich.But achieving these reforms is not enough. Alger wrote more than 100 stories during his lifetime which were published by more than 70 different publishers. I expected the bank man would call me in and say: “Little boy, are you good?” and I was going to say “Yes;” and when he asked me what “St. Buffet said it best when he recognized the role that luck played in his own wealth, saying that he happened to be born in a time and place that gave him the opportunity to amass a fortune. Post was not sent - check your email addresses!

[6] Alger was a precocious boy afflicted with myopia and asthma,[7][8] but Alger Sr. decided early that his eldest son would one day enter the ministry, and, to that end, he tutored the boy in classical studies and allowed him to observe the responsibilities of ministering to parishioners. We need to fight to protect public education and other public services, and to stop the attempts to privatize Medicare, social security and other government programs. The story itself was amusing because the whole situation relied heavily on luck, but then again most stories of this type do. The end of Silas Snobden's Office Boy says, "As for Frank, all goes smoothly with him. A general trust was central to his stories. He was instead the crafty street urchin who through quick wits and luck rose from impoverishment to riches". The book sold well. And does that not leave them with a mere bucket of water after walking 20 miles to the nearest well or spring–while all the while they must hide like hunted animals from the genocidal ambitions of Assholes who don’t give a damn what happens to them?

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