Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick Essay

The example of President Bill Clinton, who moved up from working class to a higher class through education, to Bill Gates who succeed without no degree. In the past decades, Americans assumed that people can move up to higher class if they have the willingness to be successful and if work hard because everyone gets the same opportunities. While, in current era, there are 5 classes which are upper, upper middle, lower middle, working, and lower classes, but people are divided in countless micro classes based on lifestyle, connections, occupations, etc. Moreover, the socio-economic status of an individual determine if their kids are going to college or not, or if they would be able to attend specific college. These evidences strongly support the thesis of the authors because it suggests that with the passage of time, the class lines became blurred and complex but these lines still divide people based on different factors.

The axis of inequality that will be focused throughout this paper is the social class. Social class is defined as a group of individuals who are categorized according to class (i.e. poor, middle, and upper) due to their income, wealth, power, and occupation. Social class is socially constructed by the way we view how much income and wealth a person possess (Ore, 20011a, 10). In reality it is much more than that. According to the text, poverty is not only the shortage of income, but it is the rejection of opportunities and choices that leads a person to a standard way of living (Ore, 2011a, 10). Stereotyping also contributes to it being socially constructed. These stereotypes influence us by defining who is who based on their principles in each class category. This can cause some to feel worthless.

Social inequality stems from many facets of life and mindsets reproduced continuously in America. The main backbone of systematic inequality is formed off of race, gender and class, which all contain crucial aspects that further oppress those subjected to inequality in various aspects of life. The resources-schools, occupations, invested parents- around one fuels the opportunity in their lives, a concept highlighted by Malcom Gladwell, in his book, Outliers. Situations one are brought up in or uncontrollable genetic aspects can very easily restrain their opportunities. Racial discrimination, gender roles and inferiority and the lack of fluidity in the low and working class push inequality, which simultaneously influencing the rich and privileged.

There is much debate in America about how its society has fallen under the cowl of social stratification resulting in the unforgiving rise of class inequality. It is becoming more and more clear these days that these beliefs have seemed to turn into truth in the last couple decades. New York Times columnist and Nobel prize winning economic professor Paul Krugman discusses why and how upward mobility has become increasingly difficult in the past decades in his article “The Death of Horatio Alger,” which was first published on December 18th 2003 in New York City. His thorough explanation makes it easy to understand just how close the United States is to being a true caste society and the imposing danger of such an event. Harvard professor

“The United States is a nation where people are supposed to be able to rise above their origins. Those who want to succeed, it is believed, can do so through hard work and solid effort.” (Andersen, pg 1) If this was only true we would live in a world in which we would all prosper based on how hard we work. The truth of the matter is that income inequality and institutional classism were simply built into the sheer fabric of this nation. Income inequality has affected many in the United States. For many the American Dream is simply that a dream.

After the Civil War America experienced a period of huge industrial growth. Government devotion to business and new breakthroughs left urban poor and working class unattended. This widened the gap between the rich and the poor, making it difficult for a less fortunate individual to work their way up in society. Many Americans, however, believed that it was definitely not impossible to become successful in life a lot of times due to myths of success stories like Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger. It is a novel about the hero’s transformation from a ragged, homeless boy of the streets to a respectable clerk with a salary of ten dollars per week. The novel follows “myth of success” formula: a young man - decent, but with no real prospects for the future

USA is a very big country with a lot of people and the social classes are very important. We can see that social class plays big part of people’s life. Everyday people are working, studying, trying to be better. Even though right now it’s time when everyone has many opportunities in his life, anyway there is a gap between classes and groups of people with same features. And your background probably will build your future. And we need to find what kind of class we have right now and look into these classes. The main idea is that Social Classes still exist and it’s most general part of U.S.A society. There are three reasons why gap between groups still exist.

He enters the kids’ bedroom to see them sound asleep. These children are exactly the type of fortunate kids that “Class in America” describes. “The bottom line is that very affluent families transmit their advantages to the next generation . . . economic success is due in large part to the wealth and privileges bestowed on them at birth” (Mantsios 392).

However, by further analyzing this argument can be concluded to be untrue because class structure limits mobility for people. Today’s society is cursed with a diminishing middle class. Due to this fact moving up the social and economic ladder is becoming increasingly difficult. This fact is depicted by Homans when he describes the decrease in social mobility, “People felt very strongly that the foundations - what they had believed they would achieve by working hard, doing things right - were not the same as they had been before”(Homans). People are finding it harder every year to move up the societal structure, despite the fact they work hard and attempt to move up. This fact correlates with the fact that the American Dream no longer has a huge present on Americans. People are simply finding it harder and harder to achieve their dreams. A similar dynamic occurred in The Great Gatsby, “It eluded us, then, but that’s no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… And one fine morning-”(189). Here Nick describes the fact that Gatsby was not able to achieve his dreams as a result of the past catching up with him. This event describes the same idea of a decrease in the ability to move up

In John Fante’s novel Ask the Dust, class plays a major role in trying to live out the American Dream. Since the main characters in this story are not wealthy, they are looked down upon as lower citizens. They are struggling to make ends meet working minimum wage jobs or not even working at all. For Arturo Bandini, he is having that exact problem. He has to go through earning a living, becoming a writer, and a confusing love life. Many people come to America or Los Angeles for that matter in search of wealth and popularity. They think they will see celebrities and meet famous people and then they will become famous as well. But after a while, they

The class divide is a serious issue in America. Many people immigrate from foreign countries to the United States to have a better life. They start in the lower class and it is very hard for them to move up in class. In the New York Times article, “ Fifteen Years on the Bottom Rung “, by Anthony DePalma, he tells the story of a Greek immigrant and a Mexican immigrant and how they have very different opportunities to succeed. Although Peralta works very hard. He knows that money doesn't last long. Mr. Peralta said, “ Me, I’ve been here for 15 years, and if I die tomorrow, there wouldn’t even be enough money to bury me”(DePalma). Peralta demonstrates that the American

The book really tugged a personal note because I come from a country where social inequality is rampant. There is inequality based upon ethnicity, gender, land ownership, linguistic ability, and even religious affiliation. However, by far the most brazen, pervasive, and important type of inequality is that described as class stratification. Class stratification enters in to an interpersonal relations, economic arrangements, and

In chapter sixteen, “Social Class and Inequality” the essays show different cases in which being rich, poor, smart or middle class can affect a person. In the writings of Angela Locke in “Born Poor and Smart” (338-339) Angela summarizes her life of what it was like growing up with a poor, yet smart mother. However, in “When Shelter Feels like a Prison” (374-376) Charmion Browne writes about being poor, and living in homeless shelters. Somethings in life, are no more than learning experiences, and only you can change it.

In Samuel Bowel’s and Herbert Gintis’ Education and Inequality, Bowels and Gintis investigate how education in the United States is unequal, especially to those indivduals who are financially unstable. In today’s extremely judgmental society, many are at a disadvantage based solely on their class, race, sex, etc. The quality of one’s education is compromised for a number of unfair reasons having to do with artificial inequalities.

people at the upper classes effortlessly, some people’s hard works might not be paid off,