Boys versus Girls

In the story of Ragged Dick, boyhood is clearly displayed as an opposing force to the stories that we have seen of girls and women of the 19th century. Dick is referred to as “our hero” throughout the story, which reinforces this new idea of what boys were supposed to be like at this time. However, under this façade of being a “hero” Dick represents more than just qualities of a boy.

Earlier in our study of children and childhood during the 19th century it was said that within children’s literature a common element is to teach a moral lesson. Ragged Dick seems to be doing the same thing as in the other stories by presenting the character and showing the one fatal flaw that the character has. It is said that, “our ragged hero wasn’t a model boy in all respects” and it goes on to talk about how he swears, he plays practical jokes and he liked to live extravagantly (255). Later on it also discusses how he enjoyed gambling and smoking, which were not acceptable for boys to be doing. However, the one major difference I see in this compared to the previous stories about little girls and their flaws are how the author deals with the flaws and how society views them.

For Ellen Montgomery she was taught how to hold back her feelings and take care of her mother. For Gerty she had to learn the ways from Mrs. Sullivan on how to be a lady and learn how to clean the house. For Capitola she was forced to fix her flaw of dressing as a boy and dress as a girl. But for Dick he seems to be able to feed one of his greatest flaws, extravagance. Dick is taken to get new clothes, and not just pants and a shirt, but down to every detail even a handkerchief. It seems as if this piece of children’s literature suggests that boys not only have flaws, but also can keep them. Dick’s “Cinderella” story ends with him getting the extravagant life he wanted.