When describing Dick's makeshift bed, Alger implicitly alludes to the manger where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus Christ was born. In the novel's opening chapter, Alger writes:
His bedchamber had been a wooden box half full of straw, on which the young boot-black had reposed his weary limbs, and slept as soundly as if it had been a bed of down.
In the Bible, Christ is born in a manger when his parents, on a journey far from home, are unable to find an inn. The wooden box, and especially the straw, recall that Biblical story, creating both an allusion and a simile—Alger is implicitly suggesting that Dick's bed is "like" Christ's birthplace. Although the language isn't explicit, the comparison would have been obvious to Alger's predominantly Christian audience.
Comparing Dick to Christ immediately establishes him as the hero of the novel and emphasizes the innate good qualities he possesses even before starting his journey of self-improvement: Dick is humble, generous, and never lies or steals. While he's not "a model boy," his character distinguishes him from other boot-blacks from the start.
Through this initial comparison, Alger also suggests that Dick's journey to success under capitalism is a religiously sanctioned one. If Dick is a Christ-like figure and succeeds through hard work and good choices alone, then his path is an essentially Christian one that Alger's readers should imitate. The comparison sets up later connections between business success and religious devotion, such as Mr. Greyson's churchgoing habits. And in a society that ascribed tremendous significance to Christian values, invoking the story of Christ's birth would have lent credence to Alger's overall arguments.
