Horatio Alger

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Horatio Alger

Horatio Alger junior (born January 13, 1832 in Chelsea (now Revere ), Massachusetts , † July 18, 1899 in Natick , Massachusetts) was a popular American author in the late 19th century. In more than 130 dime novels he described how the American dream of social advancement is fulfilled for poor, but honest and hard-working boys - mostly by winning the favor of a wealthy sponsor through a heroic deed.

Because Alger barely changed the scheme of his novels, their popularity declined over time. Even so, they were bestsellers at the time of their creation and could rival Mark Twain's books in popularity .

Life

Born in Massachusetts to a Unitarian clergyman, Alger studied at Harvard University under Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with the intention of one day becoming a poet. After graduating, he found work as a journalist and teacher. Retired from the army because of asthma, he went on a trip to Europe, where he finally decided to become a clergyman, as his father had always wanted. He took a job in Cape Cod but went to New York in 1866 , ostensibly to begin a career as a writer. After Alger's death, Church records discovered that he was dismissed without causing a stir for having had sexual relations with various boys in his ward.

The move to New York was a turning point in Alger's career. He was immediately drawn into the world of impoverished young boot-cleaners, newspaper boys, and peddlers. This world and the rigorous upbringing Alger had enjoyed formed the basis for the first novel in his series on Ragged Dick from 1867. The book's immediate success spurred Alger to a multitude of sequels and similar novels such as Luck and Pluck (1869) and Tattered Tom (1871), who all dealt with the same subject: the rise from rags to riches , from rags to riches , from rags to riches . In fact, Horatio Alger, whose formula for success was based on luck, courage and virtue, became synonymous with this genre.

Alger's grave in Natick, Massachusetts

All of Alger's novels deal with the same theme: a young boy toil to escape poverty through hard work. Critics point out that it is not the hard work itself that keeps the boy from his fate, but rather an extraordinarily courageous or honest act that brings him in contact with a rich elderly gentleman who then takes him in as a ward. The boy could e.g. B. returning a large sum of lost money or rescuing someone from an overturned car, which then alerted a rich person to the boy - and his plight. It was alleged that this reflected Alger's own patronizing attitude toward the boys he was trying to help.

Despite his remarkable literary output, his books did not make Alger rich. He gave most of his money to homeless boys and in some cases was cheated of his income by boys he tried to help. Still, when he died in 1899, his books were in almost every American home and library. They may not be as popular today as they once were, but the moral messages they conveyed were an important factor in the development of the "American Dream" in the 20th century.

At the time of his death, Alger was living with his sister Augusta. She destroyed his personal files in order to protect the brother's memory from the scandal feared when it became known.

Since 1947 the Horatio Alger Association has presented an annual award for “outstanding personalities in our society who have succeeded in spite of adversity” and grants “to encourage young people to pursue their dreams with determination and perseverance”.

The New York branch of the North American Man / Boy Love Association , founded in 1978 , which calls for impunity for pederasty , named itself after Alger.

Works (selection)

An edition of Ragged Dick , 1895
  • John Maynard: A Ballad of Lake Erie January (poem, 1868)
  • Ragged Dick ; or, Street Life in New York with the Bootblacks (novel, 1868)
  • Luck and pluck ; or, John Oakley's Inheritance (novel, 1869)
  • Tattered tom; or, The Story of a Street Arab (Roman, 1871)
  • Phil the Fiddler; or, The Story of a Young Street Musician (Roman, 1872)
  • The Train Boy (1883)
  • Abraham Lincoln: the Backwoods Boy; or, How A Young Rail-Splitter Became President (biography, 1883)
  • Dan, the Detective (1884)
  • The Cash Boy (1887)
  • A Fancy of Hers (1892)
  • Frank Hunter's Peril (1896)
  • The Young Salesman (1896)
  • A rolling stone; or, The Adventures of a Wanderer (1902)
  • Adrift in New York; or, Tom and Florence Braving the World (1904)

Horatio Alger in literature

  • In The Ballad of the Typhoid Mary of Jürg Federspiel the bad experiences are described of a young man in the late 19th century, who tries to live according to Alger's philosophy, but is mercilessly exploited by the rich, whom he helps. When he carries his lost wallet after a wealthy man, he calls the police directly and puts him behind bars.
  • In his book Melancolia Americana , Jürg Federspiel devotes a chapter to Horatio Alger.
  • The seventh chapter in Michael Moore's work Dude, where's my country? (Eng. Full cover, Mr. Bush ) bears the title Horatio Algers Must Die and attacks the dishwasher myth in the USA, as this prevents the poor and middle class population from exercising their rights and greater control of the economy by the state to fight.
  • Horatio Alger is mentioned several times in the book Fear and Terror in Las Vegas by Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson . The lyric I of Raoul Duke makes frequent references to Alger . So Duke asked himself more than once the question: "What would Horatio Alger do in this situation?" In the final sentence you can also read that he feels like "a monster reincanation of Horatio Alger".
  • Alger's ballad John Maynard: A Ballad of Lake Erie (1868) may have inspired Theodor Fontane to write his ballad John Maynard (1896).
  • Nathanael West parodies the American pursuit of happiness in his bitter satire Eine smooth Million (1934), as Horatio Alger propagated in his novels.

Web links

Commons : Horatio Alger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Horatio Alger  - Sources and full texts (English)
personal data
SURNAME Alger, Horatio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alger, Horatio Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American author of bestselling dime novels for boys
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Chelsea (Massachusetts)
DATE OF DEATH July 18, 1899
Place of death Natick