Rufus and Rose

In the sixth and final installment of the “Ragged Dick” series, author Horatio Alger ensures things end with a bang. Following on from his previous book, “Rough and Ready,” Alger continues to document the ongoing trials and tribulations of hero and former newsboy Rufus Rushton and his sister Rose. Once again, the author insisted most of the characters and incidents were drawn from real-life experiences. Although some critics have suggested this is a vain conceit on Alger’s behalf, he did have a history of working alongside youths from socially and economically impoverished backgrounds in New York City.

Alger always stressed that the principal concern of the “Ragged Dick” series was to send a clear and concise message to the world, that the thousands of street boys living in impoverished conditions in NYC could achieve great things given the right encouragement and circumstances. In this sense, Alger set out to do for the unfortunate youngsters of NYC much what Charles Dickens did for the poor of London’s East End. In “Rufus and Rose,” the rise of a newspaper boy to a Wall Street trader reflected the age of social mobility that Alger believed could create its own momentum and change the world. The novel brings the series to a satisfactory conclusion, and over a century later still asks some demanding questions of the reader on the subjects of social justice and economic opportunities.