Heratio Alger Extremes Of Wealth And Poverty English Literature Essay

The modern-day American society has transformed in many facets since the late nineteenth century. This has seen the creative activity of metropoliss and the outgrowth of the in-between category degree that narrowed down the spread between the rich and hapless. With clip, the American society has besides witnessed the development from a male dominated society to a adult females empowerment epoch characterized by monolithic promotion in footings of adult females representation in the cooperate universe. In this write up, I intend to exemplify the applaudable alterations in the modern-day American Society with mention to two narrations written in the late nineteenth century: Heratio Alger “ Ragged Dick ” and Charlotte Gilman “ Yellow Wall Paper ” .

Ragged gumshoe is a book written by Alger in the late nineteenth century to narrate the predicament of a 14 twelvemonth old homeless male child who has defied the odds of his poorness position to lift from carpets to wealths. The halfway phase of this narrative is New York City which the writer positions as a land of chances to the immature hardworking and educated work forces. The writer brings out the epic character of a immature adult male who is determined and ambitious plenty to make bold alter his helpless life style. The chief character Ragged Dicks, is vividly described by Alger as an honest, baronial, hardworking, ambitious and of course sympathetic individual. The writer farther asserts that aside from being intellectually challenged, Dick was street smart and witty, to the extent that he could steer his manner around hard scenarios of the metropolis such as robbery and fraud that characterized New York back in the nineteenth century.

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Dick takes advantage of homeless Henry to accomplish his long clip dream of going an rational by offering him shelter as a consideration for his art in reading, composing and mathematics ( Haratio, 1952 ) . Throughout the book, the writer draws as to gumshoes positive attitude towards life. The narrative is animating in the sense that gumshoe is non weighed down by his status but utilizes the available resources to mount the success ladder. Dick ‘s narrative can be termed as optimistic, since he believed in himself and was speedy to catch any chance that came his manner. For case, the flood tide of his success was the clerical occupation that he acquired after salvaging the boy of a rich baron. The whole narrative revolves around the importance of honestness, difficult work, finding and above all forbearance ( Haratio, 1952 ) .

Yellow wall paper a narrative written in the late nineteenth century by Gilman revolves around a adult female who was confined to her bed due to her mental dislocation. The xanthous wall paper refers to the wall paper in her confined room but is symbolic bespeaking the advancement of her mental status. The narrative high spots on subjugation of adult females who have post partum depression by condemning them to populate in an inactive province of head and denying them freedom to get curative intervention. The narrative of Jane is pathetic as a qualified author, she is non able to pattern her art and therefore, she feels like the society looks down upon her creativeness and this topic her to more depression and hallucinations ( Charlotte 1 ) .

In an attempt to assist her recuperate, Jane ‘s hubby confined her to bed remainder with the hope that resting and deficiency of any signifier of stimulation would do her recover rapidly as strict thought was damaging to adult females who were believed to be weak and therefore non allowed to believe under such fortunes. Contrary to this, Jane ‘s status deteriorated over clip due to her continued deficiency of freedom to compose ( Charlotte 11 ) .

The narrative of Ragged gumshoe is a large contrast to Jane ‘s narrative because while the former is based on freedom to research chances in the high life society of a large metropolis, the latter is denied the freedom to research her ability and possible therefore confined in a room that limits 1s believing. Jane portrays unhappiness and choler bestowed in her life and does non understand why society dainties adult females with content while on the other manus, rugged gumshoe is hopeful, optimistic and excited about what life has to offer to the determined and honest being.

In Charlotte ‘s narrative society undermines the function of adult females by non giving them a opportunity to be originative and become independent. Therefore, thwarting any effort to better their lives and associate with other people undergoing the same quandary. In contrasts to this, Dick ‘s instance is elating where motive and aid from other people were the driving force for his accomplishments.

Gilman narrative emphasizes on Jane ‘s hubby ignorance refering his apprehension of the remedy to her complaint and portrays the hapless status of the wellness attention system while in gumshoes instance, his friends were careful to detect his possible and work towards fostering it. Dick ‘s narrative seeks to authorise immature people with possible instead than corrupting them like in Jane ‘s instance where alternatively of the society appreciating her accomplishment of composing they denied her the freedom to show herself.

Decision: Relevance of the two narrations to modern-day American Society

As depicted in the America history talk, Dick ‘s narrative signifies the extremes of wealth and poorness in the American society and attempts to emulate that given a opportunity everyone is capable of determining their fate if merely they invest in ego realization, credence and humbleness. This seeks to recommend for a hardworking optimistic society whose nucleus moralss of endurance are non limited to the mighty and educated but instead unfastened to anyone who has a dream and hope for a better life. This is really applicable in the American civilization that gives everyone a opportunity to achieve their American dream of success.

In her narrative, Gilman portrays the society as being chauvinistic and restricting to adult females in doing them believe that they are weak and incapable of believing at the same degree with work forces. In the American history talk, this nevertheless is non applicable in the current American society where adult females have evolved from domesticity and go more proactive in demanding for gender equality in the cooperate universe. They have besides systematically proven to be competent and at par with their male opposite numbers ( John Murrin Et Al, 2008 ) . More so, with the monolithic betterment in the wellness attention sector over the old ages, station partum depression is no longer a myth and really treatable through psychotherapeutics.

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