Ragged Dick

The roles of young girls and young boys in 19Th century American literature were vastly different and seemed to have different connotations when trying to teach young readers, weather it be boy or girl on what roles and behaviors society felt were acceptable. I feel that we have touched on the role society wanted young girls to follow with the domestication process, and how children literature intended for girls to become well mannered domesticated women. While literature intended for boys was to show boys that working no matter the occupation and level of income was seen as being acceptable and a way to contributing to society. When Frank is telling Dick that he should try and be somebody "if you'll try to be somebody, and grow up into a respectable member of society, you may not become rich but you can obtain a good position and be respected." (394) This shows how society viewed the working man as a valued member of society no matter his occupation and income, which is what society wanted young boys to understand. I also feel this mentality contributed to how much boys cared about their education unlike the girls who had to be educated. We see the way Dick talks with all the slang terms and his meager ability to read, "I ain't much on readin it makes my head ache."(387) which shows how little education was valued by young boys.

Another difference in children's literature portraying to boys and girls was the role of parents. With the girls we saw either the mother or a stranger play a significant role in helping girls in literature. Boys on the other hand had no parental supervision or guidance in their life, "he had a father living, but he might as well have been without one. Mr.Nolan was a confirmed drunkard." (349) This shows how little roles parents had in boys life and how they still were able to persevere without them, which showed boys they can succeed by them self and how they must maintain that role of being tough. I also feel a big difference between boys and girls in literature was the way they behaved. Girls were expected to be well mannered and well behaved, and always being "good". Boys behavior was seen as being a bit more rebellious and cool, with the only guideline being not to steal. We see this with Dick's idea of fun being able to drink,smoke,gamble, and play tricks on people. But even though these things are bad for children to be doing we still consider Dick to be a hero.