Family

Horatio Alger HARLON L. DALTON The two preceding selections dramatize the American Dream englut tide true: the conquest stories of the fictional Ragged son of a bitch and the real- liveness Cohn Powell represent the myth of exclusive success in America, as twain men rise above pauperisation to reach their goals. This foot by Harlon L. Dalton questions that myth, calling it not solitary(prenominal) off, still worsened affectionately destructive. Using Alger as his kick example, Dalton systematically explains how the rags-to-riches myth can conceal important social realities like range and twelvemonth. Dalton is a professor at Yale virtue School and originator of Racial Healing: Confronting the Fear amid Blacks and Whites (1995), from which this selection is taken. Ah, Horatio Alger, whose be more(prenominal) than any other is associated with the unmixed American hero. A writer of mediocre fiction, Alger had a formula for commercial succes s that was simple and straightforward: his lead characters, boylike boys born into poverty, forever managed to transcend their station in lifespan by dint of laboured work, persistence, initiative, and daring.[1] Nice story line. There is scarce one riddleit is a myth. Not just in the sense that it is fictional, but more fundamentally because the lesson Alger conveys is a false one.

To be sure, legion(predicate) myths atomic number 18 perfectly benign, and more than a few are salutary, but on match Algers myth is socially destructive. The Horatio Alger myth conveys three prefatorial messages: (1) each of us is judged just on her or his aver m! erits; (2) we each have a fair opportunity to stand up those merits; and (3) ultimately, merit will out. severally of them is, to be charitable, problematic. The first message is a variant on the rugged individualism ethos . . . . In this form, it suggests that success in life has nothing to do with pedigree, race, class background, gender, national origin, sexual penchantin short, with anything beyond our individual control. Those variables may exist, but they undertake no...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

If you want to get a full essay, visit our page: write my paper