Downfall of A Relationship

Downfall of A Relationship

Love exists in between two extremes. It can start hot and suddenly turn cold. People attract each other through their charming trait and decide to be together. Unfortunately, as the time passes, the relationship changes. People might regret the decision of being together, or they might insist on their decision at first. The lovers who insist on their choice are lucky because people are always changing their mind, not many people are willing to insist. One of the examples is the boyfriend, whose name is Pete, and the protagonist, Maggie, in the book “Maggie, A Girl Of The Street”, written by Stephen Crane. Their relationship started hot, so nobody thought their relationship start to turn cold quickly, but the dance hall they went reflected this.

The first time they went to the dance hall, the dance hall was filled with happy people. As the Crane depicted: “The dancer smiled upon the throng as if in acknowledgment of a warm welcome, and began to walk to and fro. A song, the words of which were inaudible. When she broke into the swift rattling measures of a chorus some half-tipsy men near the stage joined in the rollicking refrain and glasses were pounded rhythmically upon the tables. People leaned forward to watch her and to try to catch the words of the song. When she vanished there were long rollings of applause.” (Crane 32) They love the dancer, they give her a warm welcome, they give her long-rolling applause even though they think that they can not even hear what she was singing.  They are being lovely and enthusiastic to the dancer, just as how Pete treat Maggie. When Maggie came into the hall with him and sat down, he showed his care, love, and enthusiasm to Maggie, as she thought that “Pete brought forth all his elegance and all his knowledge of high-class customs for her benefit.”(Crane 33) He showed his gentleness to Maggie and asking a waiter for a bigger glass for Maggie for a drink, even though he didn’t even know what Maggie want. The waiter was annoyed by his tone, but he answered back with even more tough tone. Maggie and Pete were enjoying their first date, their hot relationship, just as the people in the dance hall enjoying the performance even though they didn’t even know what the performers were performing.

The second time they went to the dance hall, the dance hall changed a lot, as Crane depicted that “In a hall of irregular shape, A ballad singer, in a dress of flaming scarlet, sang in the inevitable voice of brass. When she vanished, men seated at the tables near the front applauded loudly, pounding the polished wood with their beer glasses. She received another enthusiastic encore. She reappeared in still less gown and danced” (Crane 57). The atmosphere in the dance hall changed; the audiences became crazier than before. They applauded loudly, and they pounded the polished wood with their beer glasses. They want more from the dancer, as every time she reappeared, she was wearing less. They showed their unusual interest and zeal to see the dancer to dance more, just as what happened between Pete and Maggie. Their relationship changed. Their role is not equal anymore: Pete now controls this relationship as Maggie became more and more dependent on him. “Pete’s air of distinguished valor had grown upon him until it threatened stupendous dimensions. He was infinitely gracious to the girl”  (Crane 57). He was gone crazy for this girl that he has the infinite care to this girl, Maggie. Their relationship had reached a culmination, just as the audiences’ craziness towards the dancers.

The third time they went to the dance hall, it’s completely different, as Crane depicted that “The smoke cloud was present, but so dense that heads and arms seemed entangled in it. A woman was singing and smiling upon the stage, but no one took notice of her” (Crane 64). This place became blurry and filled with uncertainty with smoke all around. The audience in here didn’t care about the dancers anymore. A woman was singing on the stage, but no one noticed her. They kept focusing on their own affair. Their attitude towards the dancers changed as their zeal towards dancers vanished suddenly, just as what happened between Pete and Maggie. A lot of uncertainty between their relationship started to be exposed. As Crane described that “The air of spaniel-like dependence had been magnified and showed its direct effect in the peculiar off-handedness and ease of Pete’s ways towards her.” “Pete and Nellie entered into a long conversation, exchanging reminiscences of days together. Maggie sat still, unable to formulate an intelligent sentence upon the conversation and painfully aware of it”(Crane 65) The dependence that Maggie showed made Pete feel burdened. The woman named Nellie who came back from Buffalo started to interrupt their relationship by luring Pete. This caused their relationship to collapse. Pete started to ignore Maggie by focusing on the conversation with Nellie, and came out with her, leaving Maggie behind alone. Pete now didn’t even want to notice Maggie, and he moved his focus from Maggie to that new girl named Nellie. No matter what Maggie did, Pete kept focusing on Nellie. The love between Pete and Maggie completely changed, their love turned cold at sudden, as the third person interrupted their relationship, just as the relationship between the audiences and the dancers: they liked each other before, but not at now because the audiences have new things to focus on.

Love can start hot, and suddenly turn cold. Pete and Maggie had their first date in the dance hall, where the people are enthusiastic about the performance, like Pete and Maggie, enthusiastic about this new relationship. Their relationship goes to a culmination. They fall into this relationship and can not move out, just as the people who are enjoying the performance and asking for more. Suddenly, their relationship turns cold, as the third person interrupted their relationship, just as the audiences didn’t care about performers anymore, because they have their own affairs to do.