Relishing the Ambrosia of Hope in Stephen Crane´s Bowery in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

Mr. Farebrother and Fred are hypocritical when it comes to their religion and their behavior. However, one could argue that they are both good moral person at heart and that their bad behaviors are somewhat excusable. Mr. Farebrother relied on gambling to provide for his mother and her sisters, while Fred was raised in an environment where

“[E]nvironment is a tremendous thing in the world, and frequently shapes lives regardless.” (“Although it’s origins…”) Stephen Crane was influenced to write his 1893 novella, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, as a result of his religious family, the secrecy to publish a novel that reveals the reality and impurity of the real world and from the impact of needy, urban landscapes that ended realism and began naturalism.

child’s spirit is like a child, you can never catch it by running after it; you

Maggie Vandermeer dwells in a contemporary society where proficiency in regards to social media is a rather dominant feature, especially in her search for a job and as an attempt to conform. As Maggie is not familiar with such social media’s, especially in comparison to the younger generation, this renders Maggie somewhat of a misfit and continues her path of solitude, as she has no friends or a job. Although Maggie routinely uses her cell phone to text or tweet, she has not yet integrated herself to this contemporary society, as the younger generation is remarkably adept with social media. Moreover, Maggie isn’t conversant with the proper norms that belong to social media. For example, at the beginning of the story, Maggie is woken up by her daughter, Lacey Vandermeer, who sends her a text at 1:27 AM. Next, she begins to Twitter stalk Lacey’s page until she discovers Lacey’s presumed lover named Dane Davis, and begins to stalk him as well. Maggie also seems to prefer face to face interactions, rather than communication with some sort of social media. This preference differentiates her from the younger generation, as they tend to prefer communicating through social media. For example, When Lacey suggests how she does not need to come over, Maggie insists on the value of face to face interaction. “The point was to have a visit with you,” Maggie says (Cullen, 36). When Maggie attends her job interviews, the interviewers, who are of that younger generation, stress the

* Innocent Child Voice: Ethos is appealed through this ‘innocent child voice’ which is uncorrupted and honest. Creates a sense of innocence and truth which is desperate to be heard. Develops a sympathetic appeal and demands the audience’s attention.

As a young mom, Mary had days in which she felt overwhelmed she enjoyed “partying, dancing, and being noticed by men-and noticing them back - much to the chagrin of her family, friends who ended watching the boys so many nights”(Moore 19). This contrasts Joy’s choice to leave her children with family and friends because she on the other hand had to work. Her absence in her children’s life did not transmit nurture, but absent mindedness instead. Joy also “knew what her older son was into but didn’t think there was anything she could do for him now. She hoped that Wes would be different” (Moore 71).

There are many themes within Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good Country People”. Religion is definitely one of the more prominent themes that the story holds. Like most of O’Connor’s works, it plays a big part in the actions or characteristics of the main characters. This is all on the surface however. The more important and less accentuated theme is the various facades the characters create for themselves. These facades prevent them from facing their true “grotesque” selves. These facades also hide their weaknesses that they have no wish to face ort just can’t understand. People must be comfortable with every aspect of themselves, because certain people, who in this story

Sixty years separate the publication of the dystopias The Children of Men and Brave New World, but both authors express their depictions of a future world in which religion is drastically changed, and not for the better. Religion and spirituality serve a number of purposes in the two novels, most notably to illustrate the difference between our society and their dystopian society, and also to show the importance of faith in overcoming the difficulties which human beings face.

society of Omelas but the mood changes entirely whenever the dark secret of the child that is

I slipped beneath the surface of the pool of grain, my hands sticking straight up over my head as I held my breath, preparing for death. I was preparing for the world to go silent. This was the exact situation my father had warned me about, and I had fallen victim to it despite that. Fourteen years old as of two months ago, and death had already come for me. Or so I thought. I felt firm, callused hands grasp my own, plucking me from my grave. The relief was wonderful. I drank the air in, filling my burning lungs with as much as possible. I almost laughed out of sheer happiness – until my eyes met my father’s.

Marie was a showy Christian and only practiced her religion on Sundays. That is when she dressed up in all her diamonds, silks, and lace and went to her fashionable church and acted very religious. She was very pious on Sundays. (Kindle Edition, 2752) When Miss Ophelia asked St Clare if he is going to church, he replies with a no and Marie interjects with, “I do ever wish St Clare would go to church, but he hasn’t a particle of religion about him. It really isn’t respectable.” (Kindle Edition, 2767) As if because she was going to church, she was any more of a Christian than he. It is clear she only went because of how good it made her look. It is also clear that she went to church to listen to a preacher that bends words to fit her worldly society and makes slavery seem right by talking about seasons and how it is appropriate that some people be high and others be low. It never hurts to listen to a preacher that is of the same opinion regarding controversial subjects as you. She may not be so religious if she went to one of those horrible shouting Methodists churches, where she would likely hear some truth regarding God’s word and the true evil that was slavery. It would be better for her to be more like Missy Cassie, who didn’t proclaim to be a Christian at all, than a fake like she was.

They partake in a war revolving around the ideals of Christianity and the existence of God and morality, however it is entirely filled with hypocrisy. O’Conner’s belief of a single gesture is proven to be true when Rufus tears a page of the Bible and eats it, and act that would typically to be considered sacrilegious, in order to show his faith in God and/or Jesus. O'Connor believes that people that are liberal and atheistic are wrong and egotistical. O’Connor also shows that conservatives and people that are religious can be hypocritical and egotistical. I believe that she thinks that naturally people are inclined towards religion and that people by nature are hypocrites even if they do not try to

After the Civil War, realism became a dominant form of writing in the United States, with writers attempting to write about everyday life. After realism came naturalism, a form of writing similar to realism, but with more pessimism. One of the reasons for this pessimism stems from free will and the question of whether people possess it or not. In realism, it is definitely true, while in naturalism it seems less so, but the options are often less than ideal. Because choices do exist for characters, free will is still there, which indicates that naturalism is a derivative form of realism. In Stephen Crane’s “Maggie: A Girl of the Streets,” the characters may have little chance to escape the world they inhabit, like Maggie, Jimmie, and

We begin to define the line between good and evil and the way in which it can corrupt human beings. The message portrayed that evil and the misuse of power is an ongoing matter, one in which could affect anyone and is partially an involuntary act – the evil animalistic behaviour becomes engraved into minds; like Goeth.

Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets opening scene features violence, which is a taboo subject during the time period he wrote the piece; “His coat had been torn to shreds in a scuffle, and his hat was gone. He had bruises on twenty parts of his body, and blood was dripping from a cut in his head”(946). The three children experience abuse, both physical and emotional, from the mother and the father in the early chapters of this work. Stephen Crane states, [ Youse allus fightn’, Jimmie, an’yeh knows it puts mudder out when yehs come home half dead, an’ it’s like we’ll all get a poundin’ (949).] Furthermore, this abuse is evidenced by the following quote from Stephen Crane [The mother’s massive shoulders heaved with anger. Grasping the urchin by the neck and shoulder she shook him until he rattled(949).] Violence is a