Stereotypes Revealed In Herman Melville's Ragged Dick

In the story Ragged Dick, Dick is a 14 year old boy who lives and works on the streets of New York. Dick is not educated nor does he have any motivation to get educated. He lives day by day polishing shoes and carelessly spending his money. Although he has no education he knows right from wrong. He has never stolen from anyone even during his bad days when he barely had enough to get himself a good meal. All of that changed when he met Frank. For example, Dick started to care more about his appearance, how he spent his money, and most importantly he wanted to be educated. He told himself that he wouldn’t spend his whole life polishing shoes. He started wearing a good suit that was given to him by Frank’s uncle. Throughout the book Dick then