Contemporary 'Horation Alger myth' Use

The Horatio Alger myth is the idea of “rags to riches”, “American Dream” and that from poor beginnings one can rise to have success.

I found an article on Joseph Michael Jaber who grew up as one of nine children to Lebanese immigrants and for a long time was “very, very poor”; but then became a Superior Judge. The title of the article caught my attention: From modest beginnings, great success. This alone is an example of the Horatio Alger myth which implies that you can rise from poor beginnings to become very successful. Jaber’s life follows this and despite some difference is actually quite accurate in relation to Ragged Dick. Jaber, like Ragged Dick, studied hard and got an education, and went on to have a position in society; and according to the article, Jaber was in “pursuit of his share of the American Dream”.

However, the article also points to an inaccuracy in relation to Ragged Dick. For example Jaber grew up “very, very poor, much as everyone down here was”. This last bit exemplifies how the Horatio Alger myth is not relevant to everyone, as from as far as this article implies, one else from his childhood community grew up to be successful like him, although it could be implied that they did not work hard; like Johnny Nolan in Ragged Dick who said that he could not learn how to read, almost refusing to. As I found in another example (Why Does the Myth of Horatio Alger Linger?), it seems almost impractical to suggest that the Horatio Alger myth can be realised by any and everyone. This is also something that Alger appears to imply in Ragged Dick, because if the other boot-blacks were like Ragged Dick who is ambitious and aims higher than himself, then they too would also become successful.

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/my_generation/from-modest-beginnings-great-success/article_0a70d484-eeab-11e0-8f8d-001cc4c002e0.html

http://open.salon.com/blog/paul_nevins/2011/02/12/why_does_the_myth_of_horatio_alger_linger