In Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Stephen Crane includes the idea of Naturalism into the story and the figure of the characters. I believe it must be seen in some specific remarkable chapters, especially from chapter I to IV because these scenes indicate how Maggie and Jimmie are constructed in their figures as children of poverty and violence. In these scenes, it is really clear that they are living a hard life against their will. They are involved in a villainous circumstance, including not only the slum alley but also the domestic violence by their parents. In order to live through the worst circumstance, they have no choice but to decide their own way and the way of life without obeying the circumstance. That is, they just adopt the situation to survive. I cannot see the idea of Free Will in their behavior because they have to not consider but obey the circumstance.
However, I believe that Maggie uses her free will into the only scene which she decides to commit suicide. Of course, it might be said that she has to die even though she wants to survive because of her circumstance, especially her mother's violence. That is, if the circumstance around her had been totally different from her birth to death, her tragic ending might be changed. However, even though it is true that she died against her original will, the decision to commit suicide is decided by Maggie's will absolutely. In other words, she would decide herself in order to be liberated from the worst circumstance. In spite of the fact that she has been cornered into death by the circumstance, her death overturns that the circumstance let her obey the power forcibly. Therefore, I believe there are two ideas, namely Naturalism and Free Will, in this story.
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Ryosuke, I completely agree with your statement that, "Steven Crane includes the idea of Naturalism into the story and the figure of the characters." Because this is a naturalistic piece, I believe that Crane utilizes his use of language to further develop the story.
ReplyDeleteHe stresses the fact that Maggie and her siblings are effected by their environment. Maggie specifically, begins the story as a well-natured, rather innocent girl; however, she is forced into a life of prostitution. Eventually, her living situation takes a toll on her life and she is ultimately effected by the nature of the environment in which she lives.
Also, I must disagree with the statement that free will is present within the story. I feel that because of the lifestyle that Maggie is forced to live, she has no choice in the matters of her life events. At a young age it is required that she learns to make her own living and fend for herself. This is a result of the environment which she grew up in. Ultimately, in order for her to survive, she must make money, and she does so by the only way she knows how. Therefore, Maggie's downfall into prostitution is in direct correlation within her environment and does not deal with the idea of free will.