Ragged Dick

Eli Pardue
9/30/7
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

Ragged Dick

Ragged Dick is a short story about a young man trying to make a name of himself who had an opportunity of success fall on his lap due to a reward from a kind hearted and grateful man. In Roger & Me, thousands of people drop into poverty due to a mass layoff from General Motors for a preference over Latin American workers because they work for cheaper wages.
I think that the situation involving General Motors is not necessarily a more likely scenario, but a scenario that is much more realistic to be prepared for. It is unwise to have the hopes that a man would provide charity in order to better the life of a person because it is putting too large of a burden on too small a chance. In terms of the General Motors scenario, it is a very real prospect that one would lose a job, just as being a recipient of charity. The difference is that it is more self sufficient to be prepared for the situation that you lose a job and have a backup than to never get a job because you never received charity.
The Ragged Dick scenario is more pleasing to think about. We like stories where the hero is happy at the end. But it is not a reap prospect that America is a land so abundant with opportunity that one does not even need to try one’s hardest before assistance becomes avalible.