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Richard “Ragged Dick” Hunter
Henry Fosdick is a homeless bootblack like his friend Ragged Dick, but he lacks his comrade’s amiable, outgoing nature. As a result, Fosdick struggles to find customers and has to endure more nights on the street, without any supper, than most bootblacks. Unlike most of his peers, though, Fosdick has a formidable education. His father kept him in school for much of his early life, and supplied him with books and encyclopedias to read, with the hope that his son would one day attend college. When Fosdick’s father died prematurely, however, the dream of college died with him, and Fosdick was forced into the street by at least age twelve. His fortunes change, however, when he happens upon Dick at a restaurant. Dick offers him a place to stay in exchange for his services as a tutor. Fosdick proves himself a dutiful young man, taking his educational work seriously and performing it well. He also displays a level of religious piety that surprises Dick, who is quite unused to such observances as bedside prayer and Sunday School attendance. Fosdick also learns from Dick, who teaches him the lessons of thrift and the value of importance that Dick learned from Frank Whitney. With these lessons, a new suit procured for him by Dick, and a shining recommendation from Mr. Greyson, Fosdick is able to achieve gainful employment as a store clerk and leave his bootblacking box behind. He displays the same level of diligence in his work as a clerk and soon earns a raise.
Henry Fosdick Quotes in Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks
The Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks quotes below are all either spoken by Henry Fosdick or refer to Henry Fosdick. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 8 Quotes
I ain’t got no mother. She died when I wasn’t but three years old. My father went to sea; but he went off before mother died, and nothin’ was ever heard of him. I expect he got wrecked, or died at sea.
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Frank and Dick pause a moment in their tour to talk about Dick’s past. Dick reveals that his mother and father both died when he was very young, and the woman with whom they left him died not long after. He was, thereafter, on his own, scrounging a living through various jobs before finally finding some success with bootblacking. Dick’s early life story is shared almost universally by his friends. To be a homeless bootblack, it seems, one must first have lost their parents—either through death, like Dick and Fosdick, or through addiction, like Johnny Nolan. But while these early Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asper
Chapter 15 Quotes
I’ll make a bargain with you. I can’t read much more’n a pig; and my writin’ looks like hens’ tracks. I don’t want to grow up knowin’ no more’n a four-year-old boy. If you’ll teach me readin’ and writin’ evenin’s, you shall sleep in my room every night.
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Dick has just treated his friend Fosdick to dinner and offered him a bed for the night. Realizing that Fosdick could help him to achieve the education he so desires, Dick makes him a deal: if Fosdick agrees to serve as his tutor, Dick will share his room with the boy. Alger amps up Dick’s peculiar dialect in this moment, perhaps to make him appear more uneducated than he usually does in confessing his lack of schooling to Fosdick. Previously, Dick hadn’t much cared about education. However, since his interactions with Frank and Mr. Whitney, he now sees its incomparable Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequunt
Chapter 19 Quotes
Mr. Henderson, this is a member of my Sunday school class, for whose good qualities and good abilities I can speak confidently.
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Fosdick has, at long last, gotten a job interview despite the intensely crowded market and that market’s prejudice against homeless boys. He nearly misses his chance, however, when he’s asked to provide a reference. Luckily, Mr. Greyson serendipitously appears at exactly this moment and provides Fosdick with this simple but strong recommendation. Like Dick, Fosdick’s new suit has changed his life. Part of that change has come as a result of his reintroduction into polite society. Fosdick was, of course, already educated—both traditionally and religiously. However, he lacked anyone in an established position to stand by him and serve as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus
Chapter 24 Quotes
Dick read this letter with much satisfaction. It is always pleasant to be remembered, and Dick had so few friends that it was more to him than to boys who are better provided. Again, he felt a new sense of importance in having a letter addressed to him. It was the first letter he had ever received. If it had been sent to him a year before, he would not have been able to read it. But now, thanks to Fosdick's instructions, he could not only read writing, but he could write a very good hand himself.
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After some time, Frank has finally written to Dick. He tells his friend all about the boarding school he’s at—about his studies (which are in Latin and Greek), the headmaster, and all of the games that they’re able to play. Frank is genuinely excited to be writing to Dick. Dick, in turn, is genuinely excited to hear from Frank—it confirms to Dick that Frank really did befriend the homeless bootblack. This is, in itself, a wonderful moment of exposition for Dick’s character development. The boy has gone from an illiterate, homeless child into a literate young man, with fine handwriting, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam e
Chapter 27 Quotes
“…you were ‘Ragged Dick.’ You must drop that name, and think of yourself now as—”
“Richard Hunter, Esq.” said our hero, smiling.
“A young gentleman on the way to fame and fortune,” added Fosdick.
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Near the story’s end, Dick has given up his lifelong moniker of “Ragged Dick” in exchange for the more respectable name he was given at birth, Richard Hunter. Fosdick encourages him to continue on with this practice, since he no longer is ragged but rather a respectable man. Ragged Dick is a bildungsroman—a novel of education where a young person learns (not always with ease) the lessons needed to transition from childhood into adulthood. In this moment, the adult that Richard has become fully emerges, and he can leave behind the shell of the ragged child he once was. This Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Pro
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Henry Fosdick Character Timeline in Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks
The timeline below shows where the character Henry Fosdick appears in Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 15: Dick Secures a Tutor
Later that same evening, Dick goes out to dinner and there recognizes another shoeshine boy, Fosdick. The boy hasn’t had enough work to afford a proper supper, so Dick buys one...
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As they talk, Dick learns that Fosdick had intended to go to college, but his plans were thwarted when his father died....
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Chapter 16: The First Lesson
Prior to their first lesson, that very night, Fosdick attempts to gauge Dick’s existing knowledge. He learns that Dick has had a grand total...
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Fosdick finds an appropriately simple newspaper article on which Dick can begin. Dick struggles at first,...
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...is surprised when his friend kneels at the bedside to pray before getting into bed. Fosdick explains the prayer to him, and offers to teach him how to pray, a proposal...
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The next morning, Dick tells his landlord that Fosdick will be living there as well. She agrees, while adding twenty-five cents to the weekly...
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Recognizing that Fosdick isn’t very good at soliciting customers, Dick begins to work in tandem with the young...
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...contemplates going to Mr. Greyson’s Sunday School. He’s almost talked himself out of it when Fosdick intervenes, offering to go along. Soothed by the idea of not having to go alone,...
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Chapter 17: Dick’s First Appearance in Society
At the church, Dick and Fosdick find Mr. Greyson, who sits the boys with him and his family for the service....
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...seen.” Dick agrees to come every Sunday to continue his religious education. As he and Fosdick leave, however, they are accosted by Micky Maguire, who throws a stone that just misses...
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Chapter 18: Mickey Maguire’s Second Defeat
Maguire runs away from Dick and Fosdick as soon as he’s spotted, but Dick gives chase. When Maguire trips and tumbles badly,...
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Dick has also made great progress with his studies, and Fosdick informs him that he’s ready to learn how to write. Dick says he feels that...
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Fosdick replies that he would love to give up shoe-shining, but no one would hire him...
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Chapter 19: Fosdick Changes His Business
On the hunt for a different line of work, Fosdick soon encounters difficulties. All of the jobs he applies for are swamped with applicants. In...
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Finally, however, Fosdick manages to get an interview for a clerk position at a hat store. He does...
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Chapter 20: Nine Months Later
Nine months pass, during which Fosdick receives a raise at his job and Dick continues to have remarkable success as a...
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...improved. Now he can read quite well in addition to writing and doing arithmetic. Indeed, Fosdick tells him, Dick now knows as much as his tutor. The narrator asserts that such...
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Chapter 21: Dick Loses His Bank-book
...his bankbook missing from the locked drawer where he kept it. Discussing the matter with Fosdick, the two decide that the book was stolen. The thief, they deduce, must have been...
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...of responsibility saving, the greatest satisfaction for Dick would still be to help Tom Wilkins. Fosdick lends Dick the remaining money he needs to help Tom, and the two decide on...
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...as a thinly veiled attempt to see if they’ve noticed the missing passbook. Dick and Fosdick act as though nothing is amiss, and Travis quickly departs.
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Chapter 22: Tracking the Thief
...bit of Travis’ back story. He had indeed stolen the passbook after hearing Dick and Fosdick talk about their savings one night. A lazy young man, Travis has heard about a...
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Chapter 24: Dick Receives a Letter
One day, Fosdick points out a notice in the newspaper to Dick. The notice states that there is...
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Chapter 25: Dick Writes His First Letter
Back home, Dick shows Fosdick the letter. Fosdick suggests that Dick write one in return and even offers to proofread...
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Chapter 26: An Exciting Adventure
...find another job and begins to apply, though he finds conditions much the same as Fosdick did. With his financial security, Dick allows himself occasional half-days off. On one such day,...
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Mr. Rockwell has Dick and Fosdick brought to his house, along with his son. He supplies Dick with a new suit...
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Chapter 27: Conclusion
...bootblacking supplies as a reminder of how far he’s come. In the end, he and Fosdick agree that it’s time to find a better place together.
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