Analysis of Maggie: A girl of the streets
...make the reader sympathize with the character. Though I don’t think this is always the case, in this particular novel it was. Prior to Crane showing the wrong doing Maggie made (prostitution); he showed her unstable and unhealthy environment she grew up in. Instead of being disgusted by Maggie’s behavior, you pity and sympathize with her. Her “wrong doing” was her confused response she understandably felt because of her unhealthy life. Crane made you empathize with her because you realize she was a victim of her environment Maggie's mother was a vicious alcoholic. Maggie’s brother Jimmie grows up violent and combative. Although he himself has seduced and abandoned women, he fails to see himself in Pete (Maggie‘s boyfriend) whom he hates for seducing Maggie, and he has no sympathy for Maggie, whom he blames, hypocritically, for bringing disgrace on the household. Unlike his naïve sister, Jimmie has the toughness necessary to survive in the rough world of urban poverty, but this toughness seems inseparable from the casual cruelty that seemed to be a common mood in the novel. Maggie meets Pete, who seduces and then abandons her. Pete affects seems to be the promise of a better life for Maggie. He certainly seems the villain in Maggie's story. Pete too can be considered a victim of his environment. Seeing the cruel and evil treatment of Maggie receives does make you sympathize with her character that Crane ...