The reality –Realism in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

The reality

–Realism in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

“The building quivered and creaked from the weight of humanity; buckets, brooms, rags, and bottles were in all unhandy places; formidable women with disordered dress gossiped while leaning on railings”(Crane 8). From the society to a person, the equality, liberty, and happiness in the American principle became fragile water bubbles, evaporating successively at the end of the nineteenth century. After the Industrial Revolution, economy and industry grew prosperously in the United States. At the same time, with the pursuit of money and material enjoyments, mammonism and materialism started to infect the society. The belief in the omnipotence of money eroded people’s ethic and morality and resulted in the increasing wealth disparity. Facing the darkness under the gorgeous neon light in New York City, the realist Stephen Crane published the book Maggie: A Girl of the Streets to criticize the situation of the society and awaken the public. His work shows the reality of violence, greed, and evilness by revealing the actual society, a real family, and the instinct of normal people. This realistic piece of fiction focuses on the reality and expresses Stephen Crane’s concern on the life of the lower level class.

From the beginning to the end, Realism permeates in the description of the society. The tragedy is set in Rum Alley in Bowery, which is described by the narrator as “a mud puddle” full of dirt. Puddle and dirt, with their sordid and messy characteristic, are such realistic metaphors to represent the chaos in the society. They also reveal the key element of social criticism in American Realism(Longwood). In order to show a real neighborhood where the protagonist Maggie lives, Crane describes a battle among children from two different alleys. When the battle begins, “the small combatants pounded and kicked, scratched and tore. They began to weep and their curses struggled in their throats with sobs”(Crane 7). Child is a social group which reveals the reality because they are the easiest to be influenced by the environment and don’t know how to disguise. The narrator uses the cruel actions of children to show, instead of telling, the readers the violence and the law of “survival for the fittest” in that unidealized society(Scheidenhelm). Violence keeps happening in this novel; normal people’s response to the violence reveals the immorality and nonchalance in the society. The narrator describes the reaction of people when they see Pete and Jimmie fighting as: “A laugh and down the avenue for the half of a block. ‘Dey’ve t’rowed a bloke inteh deh street.’”(Crane 55). The people in the society regard the violence more like a farce than a tragedy; no one cares about the person who was thrown on the street. Frankly speaking, in that society, who wants to miss a free comedy show to save a stranger at that time? Their nonchalance to violence and ignorance of help indicate the lack of morality in the society, which is often emphasized by the realists(University of West Georgia). By applying the elements of realism, Crane successfully presents a real nineteenth-century American Society to his audiences.

Realism focuses on the relations between the society and a person(Scheidenhelm). Family, like a joint, connects the whole and the individual. Crane uses the real life of Meggie’s family, one of the lowest in the society, to interpret Meggie’s downfall. Since Meggie was born, the poverty, along with the cruelty and alcoholism of the parents, has shaped her unique personality. Crane describes the fight between little Meggie’s parents as: “There was a crash against the door and something broke into clattering fragments, confusingly in chorus as if a battle were raging”(Crane 15). The family filled with “howls and curses, groans and shrieks” deprived Meggie’s sense of security, satisfaction, and happiness; she becomes helpless and hopeless. The presence of Pete, an ideal “rich“ man with “integrity”, triggers her pursuit of money and social identity. It is Meggie’s fear of her horrible family life, together with the greed, that leads her to her downfall. As a realistic novel, Crane not only reveals the actual life of poor people, but also interprets the mental influence of the family on individuals.  He also reflects the desire in the humanity by embodying the realistic element of psychology in his description.

Character is the most important aspect of realism, appearing in the real complexity of temperament and motive(University of West Georgia). Crane’s realistic depiction of the characters reveals the characteristic of the figures and the human nature. Nellie, the women of brilliance and audacity, wears a hat of prevailing fashion and looks clear-eyed through the stares of the men(Crane 64). Nellie knows how to disguise herself with elegance, but after all, she is just a hypocritical prostitute. The narrator shows the reality at the end: “ She stayed behind, taking up the bills and stuffing them into a deep irregularly-shaped pocket”(Crane 86).  Nellie takes Pete’s money when he is drunk and regards him as “a damn fool”. What a hypocritical and greedy woman that Crane shows to us! The narrator also portrays a sarcastic Sister by describing her reaction to Meggie’s death. “Her good, motherly face was wet with tears. She trembled in eagerness to express her sympathy”(Crane 87). No one cares about Meggie’s death; pretending to be sympathetic cannot cover up her disdain on Meggie, as the Sister said: “ What a terrible affliction is a disobedient child.” The figures Crane created are vivid; the evilness in people’s instinct is real; the realism in the description of characters is palpable.

This fiction of Meggie, a girl of the streets, is not a real story. However, the society of evil and darkness, the family in poverty and violence, and the people with greed and sarcasm are the reality. Stephen Crane uses the reality to awaken the Americans in the downfall. Instead of being idealistic, this novel is realistic. It is so realistic that no publishing house wanted to publish it. In conclusion, this self-published novel reflects the reality, matches the features of realism, and thus should be considered as a realistic piece of fiction.