Different Paths

Two girls, both immigrants, both poor, both growing up in the slums. You could say they are cut from the same cloth, but if that’s the case how come they have been sewn into something much different? Maggie and Nellie from Maggie a Girl of the Streets both grew up in bad conditions that have helped mold them into the people they became. One ended up timid, unsure of herself, and the other ended up a confident survivor through swindling. By showcasing their dramatic differences with similar socioeconomic upbringings, Crane shows how both conditions set you back, but also how much your individual choices can allow you to overcome challenges and survive.

In an attempt to survive Maggie and Nellie have gone down quite different paths. Nellie has realized her conditions and as a way to keep afloat decided to swindle men. Maggie however has always been a more innocent, naive, and morally good person since childhood. On one such occasion, she helps her brother escape the wrath of Mary, their mother, by breaking a plate. Her naivety is later reflected when she mistakes a puppet for a man “Do dose little men talk?” (Crane 33). As a result of this naivety and innocence, Maggie clings to Pete who offers new experiences and a way out. Nellie is quite the opposite, having been more aware of their outside world she sees that Pete is not anything special, but is a source of profit to survive. This is later confirmed by the final interaction between each girl and Pete.

In the final chapter with Nellie, she and other girls are getting drinks from the ever more drunk Pete. Instead of showing any care for him as he drinks himself into a stupor, they continuously agree with him and shriek as he collapses. Nellie’s lack of care is shown as she leaves the bar. “The woman of brilliance and audacity stayed behind, taking up the bills and stuffing them into a deep, irregularly-shaped pocket. A guttural snore from the recumbent man caused her to turn and look down at him. She laughed. ‘What a damn fool,’ she said, and went” (Crane 86). Nellie knows she must have some sort of income to survive, and at this moment in time, Pete is the way to get it. From the description of the ‘irregularly-shaped pocket,’ it is clear that she has likely done similar stunts before and is well-practiced given her confidence. After Pete leaves Maggie for Nellie, Maggie comes back at a later time to the bar because she still cares for Pete after what he has done. From this, you can infer that Maggie is a more forgiving character, however, she has also become like a lost dog reliant on Pete. “The girl seemed to have a struggle with herself. She was apparently bewildered and could not find speech. Finally, she asked in a low voice: ‘but where can I go’?” (Crane 76). Maggie at the thought of having nowhere to go becomes ‘bewildered and could not find speech’. She has become reliant on Pete as a result of the horrible home conditions that she has been thrown out of and does not have a way to support her financial needs. This ultimately results in her going to the streets, in a way that some could argue was put into place by her upbringing in the slums. 

By illustrating the different outcomes of each girl, Crane is trying to illustrate how much each individual decision can make on a person, however, he is not trying to say that anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and be successful by creating this story. Instead, he is showcasing how much a poor socioeconomic background can set you back in life. One good example of this is Nellie. She continuously takes advantage of different opportunities with different men, yet she is not what most people would consider successful by any means. A 2019 study by Georgetown University attempted to quantify these effects by looking at the chance of going to college and getting a good entry-level job in people with different test scores and socioeconomic backgrounds. “One of the more staggering findings from the study was that a child from the bottom quartile of socioeconomic status yet with high test scores in kindergarten only has a 30% chance of obtaining a college education and a good entry-level job. On the contrary, a child in the top quartile of socioeconomic status but with low test scores has a 70% chance of the same.” (Ting 2019). A 40% better chance of a good job is a huge difference that if consistent would affect millions of people. With this specific data, it is important to remember that kindergarten test scores were used which may not express innate talent, however, many similar findings exist so it is not absurd to suggest that socioeconomic upbringing has a huge effect on the potential success of a person. 

Stephen Crane was writing Maggie a Girl of the Streets at a time with a huge difference between the poor and the rich and an influx of recently immigrated families. As a result of this, one of his points in writing the book was likely to showcase the massive effect of socioeconomic upbringing. He did this by bringing us into the terrible upbringing of Maggie and contrasting her with Nellie another girl who chose a different path but still ended up stunted. Yet again in our world, this seems to be a growing topic that will hopefully be acknowledged widespread in America.

Wallace Ting Www.schoolrubric.org, Simpson, L., Luce, A. M., Henstridge, N. R., Frangiosa, D., Levin, A., Fritz, A., & McKnight, K. (2022, January 7). Future success depends more upon socioeconomic status as opposed to academic talent, New Georgetown Study suggests. School Rubric. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.schoolrubric.org/future-success-depends-more-upon-socioeconomic-status-as-opposed-to-academic-talent-new-georgetown-study-suggests/