Hypocrisy in Steven Crane’s Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets
One of the many themes shown in Maggie: a Girl of the Streets is that of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy occurs when one pretends to be something that he or she is not. Most people associate hypocrisy with a person that speaks poorly of something, yet commits that something him or her self. In Maggie, many of the main characters in the novel display the trait of hypocrisy. The trait is displayed by the characters of Pete, Jimmie, and both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. They pretend to be what they are not.
In the beginning of the novel, Jimmie gets into a fight with his peers of the street. After the fight has progressed for some time, Jimmie's father must spilt up the children. Mr. Johnson, who is Jimmie's father, says, "Here, you Jim, git up, now, while I belt yer life out, you damned disorderly brat" (Crane 5). This quotes is a strong display of hypocrisy. Mr. Johnson acts in disapproval of Jimmie's fighting. As a disciplinary action against further fighting, Mr. Johnson threatens to beat Jimmie up. To stop his son from fighting, Mr. Johnson does what he tells Jimmie not to do by beating him.
Another main character in Maggie displays the trait of hypocrisy. That character is Pete. At one point in the novel, he is sitting with his "girlfriend," Nell, talking about how kind he is to her and all her friends. He says, "An'body treats me right, I allus trea's zem right!" (Crane 56). In truth, Pete does not tr...
For example, when Holden was talking to the mother of a former Pencey Prep student on the train, Ernest, she asked for his name. He responded by saying that his name was Rudolf Schmidt, because “[he] didn’t feel like giving her [his] whole life story.”(Salinger 30) What this quote is trying to prove, is that Holden does not understand what a hypocrite is, because right before Holden told the woman her name, he was saying how he hated people that lied. Then right after he said that, he went on to lie about what his name was. Ernest’s mother went on to tell Holden how he was a very sensitive boy. On the outside, Holden agreed with her, but on the inside, he was thinking about how “that guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat.”(Salinger 30) Holden knows on the inside that Ernest is not sensitive at all, but his mother thinks he is, so Holden’s response is to lie right in her face and tell her that she is right. This quote is showing the readers how Holden is being complete phony by being a hypocrite and contradicting
...sents some discrepancies in how people value their family history. To some, family does not mean much at all but others are very much aware of their ancestors and the traits that they share in common. Some people use this self-awareness to better themselves while others find ways of exploiting it to satisfy their superficial needs. Dee is the type of individual that misuses her heritage. She is using it to fit in and attract the new religious group with which she has begun to associate. Maggie just seems oblivious, although the story does not allow the reader to know what she is thinking. The truth is that Maggie and her mother are living their heritage. This is the lesson that Dee's mother is trying to teach her; to accept and embrace who she is rather than continuously search for something she is not. She could search for her entire life and never be fulfilled.
Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” explores the consequences of hypocrisy and gullibility. O’Connor shows how this terrible combination of hypocrisy and gullibility can affect average families. She intergrades strict Roman Catholic upbringing into all of her character flaws. Every character in the story believes that they are on a higher moral ground, but none of them leads an ethical life. When in actuality, they are all hypocrites that claim they have the honor and higher moral values than they actually do. Throughout the story, the men illustrate the only receptive hypocrisy that is displayed, and the gullibility that is illustrated is by the women.
Maggie is not as attractive as Dee. She is a thin and awkward girl. Her
When we meet our narrator, the mother of Maggie and Dee, she is waiting in the yard with Maggie for Dee to visit. The mother takes simple pleasure in such a pleasant place where, "anyone can come back and look up at the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside the house." (Walker 383) This is her basic attitude, the simple everyday pleasures that have nothing to do with great ideas, cultural heritage or family or racial histories. She later reveals to us that she is even more the rough rural woman since she, "can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man." (Walker 383) Hardly a woman one would expect to have much patience with hanging historical quilts on a wall. Daughter Maggie is very much the opposite of her older sister, Dee. Maggie is portrayed as knowing "she is not bright." (Walker 384)
James Farmer Jr. wants to prove himself to his coach, his team, and his family. He feels he is not being treated equally because of his age, thus he works hard to be recognized. One of the earlier scenes in the film depicted his father, James Farmer Sr., a man with a PHD, being threatened by white farmers because he accidently killed their pig. James Jr. wanted to stand up for his father, but could not. This goes to show you, that even a prestigious black man in this time can be killed by a couple of rednecks and...
In the story “Everyday Use” Walker weaves us into the lives of Momma, Dee, and Maggie, an underprivileged family in rural Georgia. Momma is described as a loving, hard working woman who cares more about her family’s welfare than her appearance. The conflict comes along with Momma’s two daughters Dee and Maggie whose personalities are as different as night and day. Dee, the younger, is an attractive, full figured, light skinned young lady with ample creativity when it comes to getting what she wants and feels she needs. Maggie on the other hand, is darker skinned, homely and scarred from the fire that destroyed the family’s first house. Throughout the story we are told about Maggie’s timid and withdrawn behavior. Her own mother described her as “. . . a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car . . . That is the way my Maggie walks . . . chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire.” (Handout, Walker) She is constantly overpowered by her dominant sister who “held life in the palm of one hand, that “no” is a word the world never learned to say to her” (Handout, Walker). It seems as if Walker herself find Maggie inferior, seeing as how she is a minor character in the story. Things begin to turn around for Maggie towards the end when she receives the family’s...
...tely denying her family history, ancestors, and heritage to avoid some of the past. She’s also arrogant in terms of her showing off her newly obtained knowledge or education to family members who feel overwhelmed by it. Maggie, on the other hand, is much more lenient, she understands her sister better than her mother does and can accept her past.
The use of color in Stephan Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is crucial when looking at the setting of the story; the repeated use of red is significant when describing Maggie’s mother Mary and the importance of color in describing the social system through the story. It is seen prominently when Maggie and Pete go to the theater, parts of the play paralleled the lives of the common people: "The latter spent most of his time out at soak in pale-green snow storms, busy with a nickel-plated revolver, re...
They may argue Maggie could of escape from the slum life and she didn’t have to let it take a hold of her. They may also say that Maggie was her own downfall and demise by letting a boy drag her down to the mud and damage her good name. However, because of her upbringing, it was hard for her not to be affected by her environment and social factors.
Have you ever seen the Disney movie Cinderella? Cinderella was always jealous of her step sisters always being up lifted, while she was always degraded by her step mother however, at the end everything changed for Cinderella just as it did for Maggie. There are a numerous of themes throughout the story “Everyday Use”. Race is showed when Dee leaves home and comes back embracing her African American cultural. Family also plays a major role in “Everyday Use”. In “Everyday Use” Maggie’s characterization presents her as ignorant; however, a closer look reveals Maggie ignorance is not a representative of her potential but, rather her mother’s bias.
Maggie relationship with Dee is full of jealousy and envy. Maggie thinks that her sister is better, prettier, and smarter than she will ever be. Because of that, Maggie is shy and intimidated when her sister and her boyfriend come home to visit for the first time in years. Dee on the other hand does not make it any better, because of her jealousy and judgmental ways make Maggie feel unloved and unappreciated. When Maggie is burn in the house fire Dee shows no concern if her sister lives or die. Even their mother knows that their relationship is nonexistent. Dee’s mother said “I used to think she hated Maggie” (Walker 154). Even as adults Dee and Maggie love for one another is arm distance away. Dee feels that her mother and sister are not claiming their heritage and are close minded country
While Maggie is brown-skinned and dark-haired, Lucy, her cousin, is her contrary: "It was like the contrast between a rough, dark, overgrown puppy and a white kitten" (58). And the appearance influences the character: everybody is satisfied with Lucy and that is why Lucy is satisfied with herself. Maggie on the contrary is viewed as almost an idiot in her effort to be admired and loved.
Life is a serious of events. Each person comes and goes from one activity to another, a run to the Starbucks on the corner for a morning brew or the boarding of the evening commute back home. In the genre of realism, these every-day monstrosities are explored. This concept, combined with the “scientific principles of objectivity and detachment” (Campbell), creates the style of naturalism in literature. Through his detailed usage of realism, the author Stephen Crane is often portrayed as one of the leading founders of naturalism in American literature. Having been raised in a religious family during the rise of Darwinist ideals, Crane uses the trends of the times and the world around him to create works that are celebrated by critics as some
This can partiality be seen as a result of the book being set in London rather than America, like in “Maggie.” However, the character Tessa had a background similar to Maggie in a couple of ways. Tessa is also from America, and was rather poor. The reason she moves to London to be with her brother is that she sold all of her possessions to pay for her aunt’s funeral. This shows that her and her aunt had very little money to get by on. The thing that sets the two characters apart is that Tessa is educated. This fact is shown in the dialog of Tessa, as she says things like, “I'm awfully obliged to you for everything, Jessamine. Shall we return to the institute now?” (Clare 120). She is well spoken and doesn't get called out by other characters for her speech other than when using what is mentioned in the book as American phrases. This feature of the character seems to be attributed by Clare to the fact that Tessa has a love for books, which would have imparted on her the sort of eloquence that is seen in Crane's world descriptions. While Tessa is poor and begins in a similar position as Maggie, Cassandra Clare uses the character’s ability to converse on the same level with a proper lady like Jessamine to establish that she has the potential to escape from her dire social