Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl On The Streets

Maggie: A Girl On the Streets

The problems that were faced by Maggie, and many other women in the lower social-economic levels during the Gilded Age, are almost unbearable to imagine. She faced discrimination, attachment issues, and grew up with a dysfunctional family that failed to show affection. Fortunately for Maggie, she wasn’t like the people she lived around. As Stephen Crane put it, “None of the dirt of Rum Alley seemed to be in her veins” (Maggie 16). This unique feature acquired by Maggie gave her the ability to improve her chance, even by a slim chance.
Maggie grew up with a family who would have been classified as the low-class, in the scums of New York City. This is where Maggie naturally sets back her chances on eventually leaving her awful neighborhood, also known as
Maggie’s family wasn’t any exception. Both Maggie’s parents were extreme alcoholics. Mary was destructive as they get. Considered the incarnation of the devil, Mary is hypocritical enough to condemn her daughter for immorality. Maggie’s father, Mr. Johnson, is only referred to his last name in the book. He isn’t in the novel for very long until he dies. What is seen of Mr. Johnson is a brutally violent father who dwells at the bars every night to escape the “living hell” at home. Jimmie is Maggie’s brother. In spite of the abuse he receives at home, he fights on the streets. Jimmie is a hotheaded fighter that refuses to back down. For example,"’Naw,’ responded Jimmie with a valiant roar, ‘dese micks can't make me run,’” Jimmie says in one of the first lines in the book (Maggie 1). Although Jimmie and Maggie seem to somewhat get along in the beginning of the novel, Jimmie ends up scorning Maggie and blaming her for what happened with Pete. Jimmie is hypocritical in his reasoning because he too has seduced and abandoned women in the