Maggie and the American Dream
The American dream is a cultural phenomenon among Americans, the belief that you can become better than the situation you were born into. Many people, in real life and fiction, are examples and success stories of this dream. Many other people, however, fall short of reaching their goals. In Maggie, A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane, that idea of the disillusionment of the American dream is on full display. Crane shows disillusionment through the setting and through the characters Pete and the titular Maggie.
Maggie is set in the Bowery, a poverty-stricken section of New York City, during the late nineteenth century. The community is known for its most despicable qualities, like its affinity for …show more content…
He wants nothing more than to set himself “above other races and classes” (Von Cannon 49). Pete, although just as poor as his fellow Bowery residents, considers himself as having a higher status because his job as a bartender allows him to have a little more money than others and have fancier clothes. He assumes an entire fake persona of a gentleman, taking Maggie on lavish dates while wearing his stylish clothes and she “naively judges the quality of Pete’s character according to the quality of his clothes” (46). According to Crane, “his mannerisms stamped him as a man who had a correct sense of his personal superiority” (5). Pete ditches Maggie though, when the more successful women around prove to be more attractive to him. His lust for success finds him going after “better-dressed” women, a statement of well-being at the time (Von Cannon 47). Pete believes if he can date the women that are more well-off, he too will become more successful. However, Pete’s desperate hunger for power and success tragically leads to his downfall, as the woman he leaves Maggie for robs him of his money while he is passed out in a bar. Crane once again shows the theme of disillusionment by showing a character whose entire life centers on his strive for personal improvement, and his circumstances and personal failings causing him to never succeed and be destined to stay stuck in the lower class poverty that the majority of Bowery residents are
The American dream is a cultural phenomenon among Americans, the belief that you can become better than the situation you were born into. Many people, in real life and fiction, are examples and success stories of this dream. Many other people, however, fall short of reaching their goals. In Maggie, A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane, that idea of the disillusionment of the American dream is on full display. Crane shows disillusionment through the setting and through the characters Pete and the titular Maggie.
Maggie is set in the Bowery, a poverty-stricken section of New York City, during the late nineteenth century. The community is known for its most despicable qualities, like its affinity for …show more content…
He wants nothing more than to set himself “above other races and classes” (Von Cannon 49). Pete, although just as poor as his fellow Bowery residents, considers himself as having a higher status because his job as a bartender allows him to have a little more money than others and have fancier clothes. He assumes an entire fake persona of a gentleman, taking Maggie on lavish dates while wearing his stylish clothes and she “naively judges the quality of Pete’s character according to the quality of his clothes” (46). According to Crane, “his mannerisms stamped him as a man who had a correct sense of his personal superiority” (5). Pete ditches Maggie though, when the more successful women around prove to be more attractive to him. His lust for success finds him going after “better-dressed” women, a statement of well-being at the time (Von Cannon 47). Pete believes if he can date the women that are more well-off, he too will become more successful. However, Pete’s desperate hunger for power and success tragically leads to his downfall, as the woman he leaves Maggie for robs him of his money while he is passed out in a bar. Crane once again shows the theme of disillusionment by showing a character whose entire life centers on his strive for personal improvement, and his circumstances and personal failings causing him to never succeed and be destined to stay stuck in the lower class poverty that the majority of Bowery residents are