Power and Control in Maggie
The world of Stephen Crane's novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, is a dark, violent place. People curse one another openly and instigate fights over petty issues. The intense poverty of the populace leads to a feeling of general despair and creates a lack of self-confidence in each individual. People want to feel that they mean something. They want to know that their life does not go unnoticed. They desire power over others lives. The poor, who are constantly controlled by the rich, yearn for the opportunity to control their world. In a typical society these urges would be satisfied by successful careers and families but in the torn and impoverished world of Maggie people gain power and control only through violence and the moral desecration of others. This thesis will be shown through the fighting amongst the children, the violence of the household, and the family's treatment of Maggie's death. The kids in the world of Maggie fight each other for the positions of control and power among other children. The novel opens with a scene of violence. Two different groups of boys are engaged in a bloody scuffle. Crane writes, "A very little boy stood upon a heap of gravel for the honor of Rum
The last chapter of the book, which details the family's response to Maggie's suicide, shows the characters mourning over her death. But the scene is more like a stage act than a funeral. The characters are playing for an audience to try to show that they are not like their "misguided" (Crane 57) relative Maggie. They are virtues people who cannot understand why Maggie would choose such a drastic action as suicide. The mother, after hearing of Maggie's death, laments "what a ter'ble affliction is a disobed'ent chil'" (Crane 57). They portray Maggie as a horrible person. A person "afflicted" (Crane 57) with bad moral values and needing forgiveness from everyone. The family does this so that others can see that they are good people who deserve respect. The Johnson's want the power of others approval and the control that that approval will bring. They achieve this by portraying Maggie as a horrible individual. Janet Overmyer in her essay, "The Structure of Crane's Maggie", writes of the theatre-like atmosphere of the novel. She writes, "The final, disgustingly ironic comment of Maggie's mother-'I'll fergive her!'- would not have been uttered at all but for the neighbors' prodding. As they repeatedly ask if the mother will forgive, she senses that it would be a fine gesture to make; it would make her out a martyr" (Overmyer 185). Maggie's mother wants the power and control that being a martyr encompasses. In a typical society the family unit is a refuge from the outside world. Home is a shelter where we receive love and support for others. In the dark world of Maggie home is another battleground where wars over power and dominance rein freely. The characters in the novel fight physical and emotional battles with each other. Poverty, alcohol abuse, and moral degradation fuel this fighting into great everlasting conflicts that destroy everyone involved. In the second chapter of Maggie we find an example of this horrifying violence. Jimmie has been caught by his father fighting among the other kids and has taken him home. As they
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Approximate Word count = 1391
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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