Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets

Developing into the person someone will be in the future depends on the environment they grow up in. Rum Alley is a place where people are expected to grow into a product of their environment. Becoming a product of the environment is like a trap, because once someone is a product of the environment, they will stay as one. Rum Alley, the slums of New York, is home to the Johnsons. The Johnson family all played major roles in illustrating how prostitution, poverty, alcoholism, and having no parental role model contribute to becoming a product of their environment. In Stephen Crane’s Maggie; A Girl of the streets, Crane shows how Maggie, Jimmie, and Mrs. Johnson are products of their environment in order to illustrate how the characters can’t

escape their community.
Growing up in the slums of New York, Maggie Johnson’s only expectations were to become a product of her environment, which she proved right. Maggie Johnson has no body setting the right example for her to follow. Witnessing prostitution and poverty, Maggie eventually falls into this trap. After the love of her life, Pete, leaves her, she is stuck without a home and money. Maggie resorts to prostitution in order to make money. As Maggie walks through the crowded streets of men, the narrator softly speaks, “A girl of the painted cohorts of the city went along the street. She threw changing glances at men who passed her, giving smiling invitations to men of rural or untaught pattern and usually seemingly sedately unconscious of the men with a metropolitan seal upon their faces.” (61) The narrator illustrates Maggie becoming a product of her environment because she follows the path of other women that are in need of money, prostitution. Maggie is unable to escape her environment because she resorts to the same outlet of poverty. That outlet is prostitution.
Maggie’s older brother, Jimmie, is another character that is unable to escape his environment.

Jimmie fights for respect in the bowery. Growing up, Jimmie watches people solve their personal problems with their fists. Fighting somebody when you disagree on something is normal for Jimmie. Jimmie Johnson is not able to use his words to end the problems, but resolve them by fighting. Fighting to solve a problem is a prime example of being a product of their environment. In the Bowery, people fight for pride and respect. The more fights someone wins, the person will receive more respect. Jimmie fights because fighting is expected of a young adolescent from the bowery, and wants to earn his respect. Another reason for Jimmie fighting is that he has no parental role model to learn from. Jimmie is never taught not to fight, but only gets beaten for fighting. “The little girl upbraided him. “ ‘Youse allus fightin’, Jimmie, an’ yeh knows knows it puts mudder out when yehs come home half dead, an it’s like we’ll all get a poundin’.”(7). Maggie, the little girl, portrays that Jimmie is fighting all the time and all it does is get them beat by their Mom and Dad. Maggie also reveals that Jimmie is a product of his own environment due to his fighting for respect, and fighting all of the time. Not only is Jimmie a product of his environment, and he also illustrates moral hypocrisy. Jimmie is morally hypocritical because he uses girls, but got upset when his old friend Pete uses Maggie. Jimmie fights Pete to solve a problem, and this shows how people from the Bowery solve problems with their fists rather than their

words.
Lastly, Stephen Crane also presents Mrs. Johnson as a product of the Bowery environment. Like her son Jimmie, Mrs. Johnson is also morally hypocritical. For example, Mrs. Johnson beats Jimmie for fighting. This is a central example of situational irony. Mrs. Johnson is the perfect character as a product of her environment. This is because she washes her problems away with alcohol. Mrs. Johnson gets drunk and beats her kids on the normal day. In the Bowery, Many women and men resorted to drinking beer so they can get and this is the ordinary. Mary Johnson’s husband, Mr. Johnson, angrily speaks, “You’ve been drinkin’, Mary,” he said. “You’d better let up on the bot’, ol’ woman, or you’ll git done.”(9). Mr. Johnson is a product of her environment due to her addiction of alcoholism.
Throughout Stephen Crane’s Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, the characters are presented as people who are unable to escape the Bowery, leading them to be products of their environments. Jimmie Johnson, Maggie Johnson, and Mrs. Johnson are all examples of products of their environment. While being a product of their environment, all three characters are also morally hypocritical. Jimmie Johnson is a product of the Bowery due to his uncontrollable fighting habits and having no parental role model. Maggie Johnson is a product of her environment because she does not have a parental role model too. Maggie also resorts to prostitution which illustrates her as a product of her environment. Finally, Mary Johnson is also considered a product of her environment due to her alcoholic status. Mrs. Johnson is a drunken Mom who beats her kids. Then again, having no expectations, it is easy to be a follower and fall into this trap.