Analysis of Horatio Alger’s Literary Works

Student's Name:
Professor's Name:
Course Number:
Date of Submission:
Analysis of Horatio Alger’s Literary Works
Horatio Alger was a renowned American novelist who composed numerous novels about young adults who managed to rise into the good life from poor backgrounds due to their good deeds(Campbell 6). Although his literature had a huge impact on the United States society during the Gilded Age, Alger’s literary works and character suffered several shortcomings that affected his recognition and honor. First, he was accused of child sexual molestation and abuse after concerns were raised by several boys that he had molested them. He was charged with committing this horrific act, which affected his reputation among those who knew him. Second, a number of individuals accused him of lacking content in his novels as all stories were based on a similar narrative that was popularly known as ‘rags to riches’(Kanfer 3). Due to such reasons, among others, Horatio Alger has been missing from the most canonical literature of American realism and the naturalism period. Therefore, in this paper, an evaluation of Horatio Alger’s literary works and character will be conducted. Several reasons will explain why his work should never be included among the canonical literature of the American realism and naturalism period.
First, Horatio Alger lacked a good character that anyone should embrace. Horatio Alger sexually molested boys in a church despite being among the leaders who should guide and mold the young boys speaks volumes about the type of person he was(Kanfer 4). Based on his stories and experiences before he became a writer, Alger's motivation to write was not driven by his passion and love for stories but by the need to correct his mistakes whereby he had abused young boys. This, therefore, describes why most of his stories were about young boys as the author was trying to cover his tracks as a pedophile and build a new reputation through philan...