When thinking about 19th century boys in American Literature, I keep thinking about how Ragged Dick supports himself and is very independent. In contrast, we see girl characters such as Ellen from The Wide, Wide World and Gerty in The Lamplighter that greatly depend on their caregivers to protect them and financially support them. 

One exception to this dependence girls tend to have on other people is Capitola in The Hidden Hand. For one, she is "but a bit of a poor, friendless,motherless, fatherless child" that has to rely on her own income to survive (THH page 179). Later we find out that in order to be self-reliant, Capitola has taken it upon herself to dress as a boy so she can take care of herself: "Oh! but I took care of myself, sir! I did, indeed, your honor!" (THH page 184). Horatio Alger informs us in Ragged Dick that Dick "would not steal, or cheat, or impose upon younger boys, but was frank and straight-forward, manly and self-reliant" (RD page 258). Both characters have very strong qualities that make them able to handle the hard times of life, yet one is a girl and one is a boy. Beyond Capitola, most of the time young girls are supposed to learn to how to cook and know they can depend on others.

We see very obvious changes in Dick than the other little girls in the other American literature stories. The author informs us that Dick is a great boy, yet has some vices. Dick tends to be quite the cigar connoisseur "and wouldn't smoke the cheapest" brand of cigars (RD page 257). Another fault that is mentioned is Dick's inability to save money because he "stray[s] into [the gambling-house], and play[s] with the rest," forgetting to invest the money that he makes to get him out of homelessness (RD page 257). Lastly is the large difference between girls and Dick in the aspect of his wording. Horatio Alger tells us that "[Dick] swore sometimes" and was never punished for what he said because of his lack of having parents or someone to tell him that is not the way to speak to others (page 255). All of these aspects of a boy that Dick has brought into the story greatly varies from that of a girl's behavior. 

Young boys seem to symbolize completely different things than girls do, where as girls symbolize "sugar and spice and everything nice" while boys might symbolize independence, rebellion and some bad, habitual habits. This could make a huge difference in how we study 19th century American Literature for the rest of the semester in class. We no longer will be reading stories of how nice and cute little girls can be, but how strong and courageous young boys can be.