Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks by Horatio Alger, Jr. is a Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel. It was first published in serialized form in 1867 in Student and Schoolmate. It became a full-length novel in 1868. The book became the first volume of six that make up Alger's Ragged Dick series, his most successful work. The story follows the path of a poor bootblack as he works his way into the middle class in New York City during the nineteenth century. The basic plot which deals with class assimilation became a recurring theme in Alger's books.Richard Hunter is a fourteen-year-old orphan whom everyone refers to as Ragged Dick. He makes a meager living working on the streets of New York City by shining and polishing the shoes of passersby. He is an honest hard worker yet is almost always completely without money as he spends it as quickly as he earns it. When Dick receives a request from a wealthy merchant named Mr. Whitney to conduct a tour of the city for his nephew Frank, he accepts the offer. Frank and Mr. Whitney give Dick some hand-me-down clothing to help make him appear respectable. Dick quickly realizes how people treat him differently when he has this new look and he likes the feeling.The new way in which Dick is viewed when he dons the clothing from Frank and his uncle becomes the start of a new chapter in his life. It becomes his inspiration to improve his life and financial situation. During the tour of the city many facts about New York and its inhabitants are presented in the narrative, including thieves and other sorts of criminals. Frank knows that intelligence and the ability to think on his feet have the potential to take Dick far in life. Frank encourages him to get a formal education, but naturally Dick cannot afford it. Frank's advice, however, is not lost on Dick. He starts to take lessons from a friend named Henry Fosdick who had attended school but became destitute as a result of the deaths of his parents. Dick "pays" Henry for the lessons by letting him live with him and offering him the opportunity to become his business partner. They make a pact to build a better life. Dick also quits smoking and tries to adopt better habits. Although his efforts and hard work are slow in bringing Dick success, he pays close attention to the habits of the middle class. He goes to church, makes reading part of his daily routine, and opens a bank account. He finds support from people around him, although one person is a constant disruption in his life. Mickey Maguire is a drifter who steals Dick's bankbook but is later caught. Dick always attempts to help people who are experiencing more difficult times than he is. For example, he gives or lends money to other bootblacks. In the novels of Horatio Alger, Jr., hard working people often are the ones to whom destiny offers opportunities. In time, Dick faces a choice that changes his life.One day while riding a ferry to Brooklyn, Dick and Henry see an accident. A young boy falls overboard. The boy's father cannot swim so he quickly offers a sizable reward to anyone who can save his son. Dick is a good swimmer and jumps into the water to save the child. The child is the son of James Rockwell, who is a well-known industrialist and financier. Rockwell gives Dick a job and from that point forward he goes by his given name, Richard Hunter. His job is a financial clerk in Rockwell's New York office. When he returns to his old room one day, Dick finds that his enemy Mickey Maguire has stolen the old clothing that Dick had worn when he toiled shining shoes on the street. Symbolically, this brings Dick an awareness that his former life is forever behind him.Even at the time of its publication in 1868, the book's themes may not have been groundbreaking. Still, Putnam's Magazine considered......