Maggie: A Girl of the StreetsThe Bowery
...runks, which causes the children to live in fear of being beaten. However it is not thought of being Mary’s fault, or any other citizen of the Bowery’s fault for being corrupt. The poor streets are thought of as a petri dish for aggression and barbarity. Mary just being another product of the cruel society. It is said, “ a dozen gruesome doorways gave up loads of babies to the street and the gutter”. It seems as though the most innocent person can and will be corrupted by the streets. The society is revolved around greed. The poor people of the streets listen to a missionary just for the free soup given at the end. They are so greedy they even interrupt the preacher and ask, “Where’s our soup?” Even something so sacred as the Lord’s word cannot be listened to by these people because they are so poor and greedy. Even the youngest child, Tommie is buried with something tainted, a stolen flower. Morally, one would think death should be peaceful without sin, and this child is buried with sin because of this stolen flower. Despite the conditions of the “gutter” , “The girl, Maggie, blossomed in a mud puddle”. Even though she grew into a wonderful person, she too is corrupted by the streets later in life by prostitution. At the end of the novel while Maggie is walking down the street a gentlemen ran into her and said, “Hi, there, Mary, I beg your pardon”. Therefore one would conclude her mother was also ...