Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

             Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, a well-written novel by Stephen Crane, includes the tale of a young girl's struggle throughout life in the dark tenements of New York and the ultimate fall to her death. Maggie Johnson spent her days with her original family of two brothers, a mother, and a father. As social Darwinism and natural selection would indicate, the family diminished after some of its weaker members passed on. Many different things had impact on the survival and success of these lives at this time, but literary critic Donald Pizer explained that in this society the environment of the setting had an overpowering effect on those living within it. Pizer labeled the slum dwelling where the story took place, otherwise known as the Bowery, as both a battlefield and a prison. The cave-like atmosphere of the apartment was dark, enclosed, and cold, which suggests that this place be enveloped in fear, fury, and anguish. Pizer believes that the most important feeling of these inhabitants was their respectability, and how they presented themselves in public. This was depicted repeatedly throughout the novel. One instance was when Jimmie, the older brother, was beating Maggie on the street. The only thing that their father had to say was, "Leave yer sister alone on the street." This inferred that it was acceptable for Jimmie to abuse his sister at home, where the eyes of curious spectators could not watch and judge the family. The lives of Maggie Johnson, Mary Johnson, Maggie's mother, and Pete, the man who Maggie falls in love with, were all affected and shaped by their environments. Whether or not these characters, in addition to all of the others in the civilization, were strong and survived the inherent evil of their
             surroundings, or fell into lower levels of society as time passed, the environment that they were living in influenced each of their lives.
             Maggie Johnson lived a disturbing life with he...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 05:20, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/8287.html