Steven Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

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Steven Crane’s Maggie A Girl Of The Streets

Many times in novels, authors use themes to support subjects written for the book as a whole. In Steven Crane’s Maggie A Girl Of The Streets , he uses the theme hypocrisy to better portray the family’s life style and the unfair frustration it gives Maggie because of it. Her brother Jimmy and mother Mary Johnson are prime examples of this theme. Throughout the novel, both characters say one thing and do the exact opposite to Maggie without a residue of guilt in their actions. Which further proves the point that actions are as strong as words, especially when it comes from the only people you trust and care for.

Early in the novel, Jimmy grew up to fill the negative regions of his fathers footsteps. He would come home late in the night passed out drunk. He loved to make even strangers mad, just to take a shot at them. He knew he would never have a chance to get out of the Bowery with a future, so to earn as much respect as he could so he basically was a insensitive jerk to the world. But nevertheless the only one in his surroundings who actually showed love or any type of support to him was his younger sister Maggie. Jimmy also never had any good role models to look up to, so he took his defensive violent side out on anyone, even his mother when agitated. One of the bigger problems Jimmy later thrived on was to sweet talk some innocent girls over time to basically sleep with him. Of course they would end up penniless and pregnant with not enough food for themselves and Jimmy would be out the door never to be seen again.

As time went by Maggie was thought wrongly to be in a similar situation with the man of her dreams, Pete. She was never in the place the girls with Jimmy were in, just out late one night with her date Pete. And since the respect of your community was all anyone had, when word of her situation came up things were assumed and her respect was taken from her. At first hearing of this, Jimmy did what most protective brothers do which is get angry at the guy who took part, but then something strange happened. In his words he said “I’ll kill deh jay! Dat’s what I’ll do! I’ll kill the jay!” (Crane 43).

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