In the novella Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane, the protagonist, Maggie Johnson, is the only character seemingly unaffected by the torment of her hostile upbringing; however, as the story progresses, she becomes more aware of her indigent environment and becomes a proxy for the negative effect the Bowery has on its victims. Maggie's increasing desire to abandon her home diminishes her individualism and self-reliance. Additionally, Crane highlights the different ways in which characters are affected by and deal with their hostile environments. Anticipating an escape from this environment and a revision of her fate, Maggie turns to Pete; however, Maggie’s refusal to acknowledge that her problems are unalterable unfortunately results …show more content…
Moreover, when Maggie meets Pete, she is captivated by his confidence and sophistication as he seems to guarantee a cultured life; as a result, she surrounds him with love and makes him her focus. Early in the novella, her feelings for Pete are visible. Crane writes, "Swaggering Pete loomed like a golden sun to Maggie" (30). As her love for Pete grows, Maggie's absence of a loving friend forces her to depend on and idolize him; as a result, Maggie's individualism and self-reliance diminishes. Crane shows the infatuation Maggie has for Pete when he says, "The air of spaniel-like dependence had been magnified" (51). Maggie's reliance escalates as she begins to fall more in love with Pete; however, although Maggie starts to devote herself to Pete more and more, she is unfortunately blinded by his seemingly refined life. Maggie's refusal to recognize Pete’s facade results in her demise. Crane shows Pete’s true nature when Maggie goes to him after Mary abandons her. Crane writes, "The question exasperated Pete beyond the powers of endurance. It was a direct attempt to give him some responsibility in a matter that did not concern him" (61). Maggie's refusal to see Pete's true nature and her inability to keep her independence and self-reliance ultimately results in her demise. Though her love for Pete grows, Maggie's freedom diminishes; consequently, Maggie's lack of self-reliance allows Pete to leave her and escalate her inevitable
After evaluating the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, I came to the conclusion that the narrator made the right choice of giving her daughter, Maggie, the family quilts. Dee (Wangero), her older sister was qualified for the quilts as well, but in my opinion Maggie is more deserving. Throughout the story, the differences between the narrator’s two daughters are shown in different ways. The older daughter, Dee (Wangero), is educated and outgoing, whereas Maggie is shy and a homebody. I agree with the narrator’s decision because of Maggie’s good intentions for the quilts and her innocent behavior. In my opinion Dee (Wangero) is partially superficial and always gets what she wants.
Her attendance at the picnic with Tea Cake was an act of faith, taking the relationship into the public arena. Social condemnation was fast in coming, especially because she discarded her mourning colors. She was free of Jody, so she also took steps to defy the restrictions that social convention placed on her behavior. Gaining personal freedom was a two-fold process. First, she had to be free in her private life, but she also had to free herself from restricting social attitudes. Only then could she begin to heal the rift between her outside self and her inside self.
In this story, Maggie is a lot like her mother. They both are uneducated, loving, caring, and allow Dee to run over them. Maggie has been through more things than her mother has though, because of the incident that happened. Maggie has scars like Emily, except Maggie’s scars are from a house fire (319). The house fire has impacted Maggie’s life tremendously, since she is very self-conscious and shy. Walker stated that Maggie is “ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs (318). The mother is protective of Maggie and will be there for her whenever she needs her too. Even though her mother knows all her struggles, she still supports her and pushes her to be better. I think that is one reason she pushes her to marry John Thomas, because she wants her to become her own person and to be strong (319). The mother of “Everyday Use” is opposite from the mother in “I Stand Here Ironing”, because she is there for her children no matter what their financial status
At the beginning of her first real encounter with calamity, Astrid is inundated with a deluge of emotions, leaving her dazed. It is during this time of bewilderment that the young girl is placed in her first foster home in the custody of a Sunday Christian named Starr. With the absence of a father figure in her life, Astrid’s feelings for Ray metamorphose into those of desire and what began as a timid liking, turns into something much more. The Oedipal feelings she harbors towards “Uncle” Ray, Starr’s boyfriend, lead ultimately her expulsion from the home.
Maggie Fitzgerald was raised knowing one thing; she was trash. She had no true family that cared for her. No one even really knew she existed. The only person who gave her hope was her father. That was true up until she found the sport boxing and met Frankie. She earned everything through blood, sweat, and tears. Even when people were telling her she couldn’t do it, she still tried. Through all of this Maggie gained freedom, personhood, and experience.
Once upon a time there was a Princess named Maggie. She lives in a castle in Genovia with her parents King Henry, Queen Elizabeth and her four siblings. Maggie has three sisters and their names are Laura, Dahlia and Daisy. Her brothers’ name is Lancelot. Maggie was the youngest of all five children. The princess also has seven pets. She has three dogs named Panda the Border Collie, Tara the Sheltie and Sheena the Golden Retriever. Princess Maggie also had three birds named Sarah, Herbie and Tweety Bird. Maggie’s seventh pet was a rabbit named Snow White. The princess loves to play with her pets in the Royal Garden.
Maggie lives with a poor and dysfunctional family and a hopeless future with only the small possibility of change. The environment and setting she grows up in do not support anything more than a dull, dreary and pathetic future for her. An old woman asks Maggie's brother Jimmy: "Eh, Gawd, child, what is it this time? Is yer fader beatin yer mudder, or yer mudder beatin yer fader? (Maggie, 10)" while he runs to Maggie's apartment one night. The lack of love and support of her family hinders Maggie's ability to live a happy and fulfilling life. Without knowing that someone loves her no matter what she does or how she acts Maggie may feel desperate enough to change her situation by any means she can, and without any useful guidance. Even without any positive influences Maggie grows up different from the low-life's living with and around her. Crane explains Maggie's uniqueness in the passage "None of the dirt of Rum Alley seemed to be in her veins. The philosophers up-stairs, down-stairs and on the same floor, puzzled over it" (Maggie 16). Maggie's uniqueness gives her the chance to improve her life, but only a slim chance. Even though Maggie differs from the people around her they remain sleazy, making it harder for her to change her life because she must go outside of her community for help.
The narrator has two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Dee was this cute girl who was super intelligent and sophisticated. She often saw herself as being above her mother and sister and would often make them feel stupid and bad about themselves. "She used to read to us without pity, forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice". She shows that Dee enjoyed making her mother and younger sister feel dumb about themselves because it made her feel superior. Her whole life Dee detested her family and where she came from and couldn’t wait to get away. But, still her mother worked her booty off to provide her with high education and a good life. Dee goes away to college and when she returns she is a completely different person, suddenly interested in her family; photographing them upon arrival. With her guest, new "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo", invades her mothers house taking everything in like it’s a cute display for her. Finally, when Wangero (Dee) demands that her mother give her some quilts, her mum can not take anymore. She tells Dee that Maggie, not her, will be receiving the quilts and she snaps. "I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands, and dumped them into Maggie's lap. Maggie just sat
The battle of a mental disorder is a tough fight that people tend to deal with on a daily basis with a tendency of being alone while trying to find a way out of that battle. Keeping a distance from those who will help, and rejecting help due to age, heritage, and even gender. Maggie Nelson illustrates the battle she faces with depression using the color blue as a tool to have control over her depression bringing the color blue to life as an ally to have a control over depression as well as targeting the gender differences for mental health is taken upon by society depending on the gender.
Torey Hayden’s novel One Child is a heartwarming personal account of how even the smallest amounts of love can change someone. One Child revolves around a Special Education teacher, Tory Hayden, as well as her class and helpers. The main child that Hayden speaks of is Sheila, who was placed with Hayden after she had lured a young boy into the forest, tied him to a tree, and burned him almost to death. Hayden describes Sheila as having “matted hair, hostile eyes and a very bad smell” upon their first meeting (Hayden 16). Sheila lives in a dilapidated house with her father who abuses, belittles, and isolates her. Her past is maimed by a mother who abandoned her when she was four, leaving her in the care of a neglectful father. These circumstances cause her to lash out at any one she comes into contact with. Hayden provides a seemingly innocuous environment that Sheila flourishes in with the help of the love that her teacher provides. The main idea of Hayden’s novel, presented through her use of rhetorical strategies, is that even by offering comfort to an individual for a short amount...
Each girl has been struggling with their own issues and looks to put their anger towards Maggie, even though they don't ever join, something inside of them wanted to. Maggie needed help and wasn't able to help herself because she was silent. Their mothers couldn't help themselves either, for different reasons. Both of the girls were lonely, scared, and abandoned and wanted to punish their mothers for not being there for them and this reflects the Maggie incident. Twyla relates Maggie to her mother when she says, "Maggie was my dancing mother." "Deaf, I thought, and dumb." (Morrison 212) Roberta relates Maggie to her mother by saying, "I thought she was crazy." "She'd been brought up in an institution like my mother was and like I thought I would be." (Morrison 213) Both are agitated and the fact they are in a similar situation and reminiscing about their mothers when they see Maggie, making them want to join and never speaking up to protect her because they weren't ever protected
Being stuck in the same routine of her day-to-day living can be a prison. By sharing that day with someone, even if it is just hearing or being seen, it gives Winnie a reason to go on and “to be”. Winnie articulates the feeling of disappearing in a blink of an eye by stating “Strange feeling that someone is looking at me.
Laura, our fragile daughter-figure, finds herself escaping life at every turn. She induces sickness in her typing class and even as the Gentleman Caller awaits her in the livingroom. Unable to deal with those difficulties, Laura goes to the zoo and walks aimlessly around the city to waste time. Frightened of interacting with people, she looks to her collection of glass animals as a place of secure acceptance. Laura clings to the fear that she is strange and crippled though she herself exacerbates the reality of that. Magnifying ...
Perhaps the first glance of independence adolescents receive is when they obtain a driver’s license, get a job, or head off to college. Like the daughter in the poem, this is an exciting and transformative time in the individual’s life. For the parents, however, regardless of how much preparation they’ve done or how many times they’ve guided their daughter on her bike through the curves on the path, there’s always this fear of the unexpected turns.This fear comes with letting go and allowing the daughter to fall on her own if the path becomes tricky. Pastan tries to incorporate the elements of the hardship and difficulties that arise from finding independence. The diction that the poet utilizes allows the reader to interpret the poem in distinct ways. The word choice is simple, yet, the meaning digs deeper than a girl riding her bicycle on an afternoon with her parents watching. The style also allows the reader to focus on how the girl is evolving and transitioning into a stage where she is being introduced to independence. Finally, Pastan’s use of imagery is a key component in the poem that enables the reader to visualize that events transcending. These three elements effectively work in unison to reveal a pertinent theme and is a glimpse at the reality of independence and the difficulties of leaving and letting
... plausible that Maggie was not a disappointment. Having suffered a terrible maternal rejection, Maggie, like by an unsatisfied desire for attachment. Maggie transfers to Tom much of the need to feel acceptance. Later she returns to this relationship,