The Social Environment of the Bowery
Stephen Crane, writer of the novella: Maggie a Girl of the Streets discusses the impact of social environment through symbolic characters and setting. Crane describes the tragedy of individuals who are destroyed by their environment. The theme of social environment demonstrates the impact society has on people and shows how easily subjected people are to becoming products of their environment. The "environment" that an individual is brought up in influences the decisions that a person makes. Crane presents hopeless people living in harsh conditions. He integrates images about city dwellings such as the Bowery which is made up of 14 city blocks, including 82 saloons. The Bowery a lower class living environment …show more content…
When matched against the poverty and struggles of life in such a rough area, woman like Maggie dreams about leaving the bowery. Every chance she gets to leave, she fails because she lives in the Bowery with her abusive mother and her brother Jimmie. She had a father, but he died when she was younger. Just like Jimmie, she lives in unsanitary conditions. When Maggie grows up, she meets her boyfriend, Pete. Pete is a conceited, young man who Maggie hopes to spend her life with. She depends on him to change her future in hopes of leaving the Bowery. Jimmie and Mary believe that Maggie is sleeping with Pete. They condemn Maggie and wish evil upon her, which results in her being kicked out to live with Pete. Pete’s insecurity contributes to the end of his relationship with Maggie and he decides to no longer see her. Maggie gets fired at the factory, gives up her reputation, and the way society perceives her for a man who does not love her. These events drive Maggie to abandon her dreams of leaving her old life behind at the Bowery. Therefore, she turns to prostitution in the dark streets of the Bowery. Crane focuses on a character like Maggie, who strives for a better life because it clearly depicts the need for escape and, “to her the earth was composed of hardships and insults. She felt instant admiration for a man who openly defied it” (Crane 25 R). This can be interpreted as Maggie's view on Pete being her possible savior from the dreaded life that she so desperately wished to escape from. Maggie should be forgiven because of the cruel judgment Bowery citizens inflict upon her. These drastic events later lead her to death because she is destroyed by the people in the
Stephen Crane, writer of the novella: Maggie a Girl of the Streets discusses the impact of social environment through symbolic characters and setting. Crane describes the tragedy of individuals who are destroyed by their environment. The theme of social environment demonstrates the impact society has on people and shows how easily subjected people are to becoming products of their environment. The "environment" that an individual is brought up in influences the decisions that a person makes. Crane presents hopeless people living in harsh conditions. He integrates images about city dwellings such as the Bowery which is made up of 14 city blocks, including 82 saloons. The Bowery a lower class living environment …show more content…
When matched against the poverty and struggles of life in such a rough area, woman like Maggie dreams about leaving the bowery. Every chance she gets to leave, she fails because she lives in the Bowery with her abusive mother and her brother Jimmie. She had a father, but he died when she was younger. Just like Jimmie, she lives in unsanitary conditions. When Maggie grows up, she meets her boyfriend, Pete. Pete is a conceited, young man who Maggie hopes to spend her life with. She depends on him to change her future in hopes of leaving the Bowery. Jimmie and Mary believe that Maggie is sleeping with Pete. They condemn Maggie and wish evil upon her, which results in her being kicked out to live with Pete. Pete’s insecurity contributes to the end of his relationship with Maggie and he decides to no longer see her. Maggie gets fired at the factory, gives up her reputation, and the way society perceives her for a man who does not love her. These events drive Maggie to abandon her dreams of leaving her old life behind at the Bowery. Therefore, she turns to prostitution in the dark streets of the Bowery. Crane focuses on a character like Maggie, who strives for a better life because it clearly depicts the need for escape and, “to her the earth was composed of hardships and insults. She felt instant admiration for a man who openly defied it” (Crane 25 R). This can be interpreted as Maggie's view on Pete being her possible savior from the dreaded life that she so desperately wished to escape from. Maggie should be forgiven because of the cruel judgment Bowery citizens inflict upon her. These drastic events later lead her to death because she is destroyed by the people in the