The Horatio Alger Myth

http://www.squidoo.com/horatio-alger

In this link the writer talks about how the myth of working hard to achieve what a person wants in life and going from 'rags to riches' became so popular. This was mainly due to the fact that back when Horatio Alger released his range of novels about his various rags to riches stories was at a time when anyone in society had an equal chance that if they worked hard then they would eventually make it to where they want to be in life. For example in the time when there was an industrial boom in America - this created many opportunities for practically anyone to become a businessman and so a very rich person because of this - having achieved the so called American Dream and proving the Horatio Alger myth right.

However this link (http://www.americansc.org.uk/online/American_Dream.htm) talks about how the American Dream has changed throughout the years, and the phrase 'pluck and luck' which Horatio was known for can be seen in this link in the sense that through the years the American Dream has changed and the 'luck' of winning things like the lottery, compensation lawsuits or taking part in big time game shows has replaced the sense of the Horatio Alger myth in the sense that the social divide between the rich and the poor has become to large for this myth to still exist and has been replaced with get more get rich quick sqhemes.