Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Ragged Dick is a novel written in 1800 by Horatio Alger. It is the story of a young boy named Richard Hunter, also known as Ragged Dick, as he progresses through his childhood. Ragged Dick is a typical Rags to Riches story in which Dick struggles against the hardships of city life, trying to achieve the "American Dream." As a child, Dick is nothing more than a poor city boy trying to earn money on the streets. of New York City. He spends his time shining shoes for workers, earning only about ten cents a pair. Although he works and struggles to remain an honest and hard-working boy, he also becomes addicted to cigarette smoking and gambling. Through Dick's shoeshine business, he tends to meet a lot of people. Every day is another learning experience for Dick. There are many times when Dick's integrity and honesty are tested, but being a guy of good faith, he never betrays anyone. As time passes, Dick eventually meets a young boy named Frank, who belongs to a wealthy family, but is not at ease. everyone is familiar with New York City. Dick makes a very clever proposal; he offers to show Frank the whole city and take him to all the famous places. Young Frank accepts the proposal and, in exchange, his uncle buys Dick a new suit and helps him clean up. This was the real turning point in Richard Hunter's life because Frank's family was able to help young Dick. They did this by providing him with shelter and, more importantly, friendship. From this point on, Richard Hunter was never on the streets again and was determined to never look back. He managed to get a job, earn more money, and was eventually able to make his dreams come true. While reading this book, I was able to really put myself into the story and experience Dick's life with him. This typical “Rags to Riches” story is a general theme in many people's lives. Today, as in 1800 when history was written, the dream of many is to achieve success. This formally became known as “The American Dream.” Although it may seem strange that everyone has the same idea, it actually isn't if you look at it with an open perspective.