Ragged Dick

Horatio Alger's story Ragged Dick is implicitly arguing that it takes a combination of hard word and luck to achieve prosperity or become successful. The character Dick is obviously a hard worker, learning to read and write in a year while maintaining a job sufficient enough for him to survive on. He worked extremely hard for the chance to move up in the world, however this did not provide him with a job initially. He found that even though he had obtained the skills he needed, the job market was not favorable to hiring him. This is where the need for luck was implicitly argued. In Dick’s case, he saved the child of a wealthy business owner who he befriended and was offered a job from. The argument that this story is showing is that even when you work hard sometimes it is insufficient to achieving success, and though maybe dick could have eventually achieved prosperity, this method provided the quickest way. His openness and willingness to help the drowning child in the selfless act provided him with the success he yearned for.