"Maggie: A Girl of the Streets", written by Stephen Crane, is a novel about a young girl who is trying to find her way through life. She comes from a family with an alcoholic mother and father, and a brother who is very brutish. However, Maggie grows up as a beautiful young girl who has romantic hopes of a better future. She constantly dreams of wealth and culture and is determined to lead a better social life as she grows older. Despite her ill-fated efforts, MaggieÃÂs environment throughout life leads to her demise.
Jacob Levenson, author of Prose and Poetry, stresses the issue of MaggieÃÂs hardships in life as the main reason for her downfall. Considering Maggie knew nothing but poverty and abuse, it is natural she wished for something more to her life. Growing up in a poverty-stricken family is MaggieÃÂs reason for having romantic notions of a better life ahead of her.
MaggieÃÂs family comes from a very poor neighborhood in New York where fights continually break out. Jimmie, MaggieÃÂs brother, is a troubled child who continually picks fights with not only Maggie but other boys from their neighborhood as well. These fights are typically brutal and leave somebody injured: ÃÂWhat deh hell Jimmie? Jimmie wiped his blood wet features with his sleeve and said ÃÂwell it was dis way, Pete, see! I was goinÃÂ to the lik dat Riley kid and dey all pitched on meÃÂ (pg. 4). Although fights are breaking out on the streets, MaggieÃÂs home life appears to be just as bad. Typically, Jimmie is the one to get punished. Considering their mother is an alcoholic, and a devil-like figure, and their father is a brutal alcoholic, their home is not a place of safety, and the children have no means of...