Walden vs.

Maggie Comparison Essay

By Seamus Swyers Course Title: Cap English 9 PD: Red Group Date: 10/29/13

Henry David Thoreau author of Walden and Stephen Crane who wrote Maggie: A Girl Of the Streets convey similar attitudes toward themes of materialism and possessions; however they contrasting attitudes towards the influence of someones surroundings (fate vs. choice), and self reliance in their books. The first chapter in Walden, titled Economy, is a social commentary which discusses topics such as the importance of self-reliance and the evils of materialism (Walden 56). Stephen Cranes Maggie is a story of a girl raised in a broken home surrounded by dysfunction, who is forced to turn to a life on the streets. Stephen Crane covers many similar themes as Walden, but at times expresses different attitudes towards these themes. Thoreau expresses disdain for materialism by informing the readers that superfluities and material possessions are hindrances. Walden gives an account of a time when a lady offered *him+ a mat, but as he had no room for it or times to shake it out, he declines the gift, noting that it is best to avoid the beginnings of such evil (Walden). Thoreau would prefer to wipe his feet on the sod outside of his house (Walden 56). Here, the mat here represents unnecessary possessions. The evil that he speaks of signifies material possessions. He refuses the mat because although it is a rather insignificant superfluity, it could lead to the acquiring of more and more possessions. Walden contains countless examples of contempt for material possessions. Thoreau describes the inheriting of land tools and houses as a burden for *they+ are more easily acquired than gotten rid of. He explains that a man becomes a slave to the land and that the better part of a man is soon ploughed into the soil for compost (Walden). Thoreau is especially critical of large and unnecessary homes for they create poor civilized men. When the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it (Walden). Thoreau means that although someone may be considered civilized because they own a home, owning the home will make them poorer. They may be paying off the home for the remainder of their life. He then talks of the savage and the wigwam in which the savage resides. He says that the person who enjoys such luxuries as spacious apartments, cellars, Venetian blind, etc is often a poor

civilized man, while the savage with his simple tent is as rich as a savage (Walden). The savage that he speaks of may be considered uncivilized but at least his wigwam will not put him in debt. Stephan Crane shows similar contempt for material possessions through Maggies vanity, which achieves nothing and only impedes potential progress in bettering her condition. In Cranes book, Maggie becomes enamored with local bartender Pete. When they start dating she begins to have an intense dislike for all of her dresses (59). She envies the elegance of the well-dressed women she [meets] on the avenues (59). Maggie spends a good portion of her weeks pay on materials to sew a lambrequin, which she hopes will impress Pete. Pete stops by shortly and leaves without having glanced at the lambrequin (Maggie). Despite Maggies efforts Pete leaves her as soon as he meets a prettier woman. Crane is expressing contempt for material possessions because Maggie wastes money and effort on a material possession that doesnt benefit her in any way. Thoreau shows a belief that one possesses the ability to choose ones own destiny and change ones situation. When speaking about a persons social condition he asks whether it is necessary that it be as bad as it is, whether it cannot be changed (Walden) He is suggesting that one does not have to remain in the circumstances into which they are born. Thoreau believes that one can alter his/her condition. He also says that Most men through mere ignorance and mistake are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them (Walden). He means that most men are so engaged in making money and working harder than is necessary in order to support their excessive life style that they are unable to enjoy many things that life has to offer. He calls this way of life a mistake because he believes that one can choose to live simply and wisely and have a happier life involving much less burden. He explains that change is a miracle that is happening every second (Walden). Thoreau sets an example for his readers by moving to Walden Pond. He buys a modest shack and cuts down trees in order to build his home. He documents all of his

expenses and finds that it only costs him twenty eight dollars to relocate to the pond. He provides evidence that even someone in poverty could accomplish the move. Thoreau is trying to show that if one truly want to change ones condition all one needs is the will to do it. Unlike Thoreau, Stephen Crane conveys skepticism of ones ability to change ones fate by creating a protagonist, Maggie, who attempts to change her circumstances but ultimately fails. In Cranes book, the main character, Maggie, lives in a destitute Irish neighborhood in New York City. She grows up in poverty, living in a tenement with her drunken mother and indifferent brother. Maggie wants desperately to change her situation. She sees a play in which the hero makes a transformation from poverty to wealth. Maggie wonders if the culture and refinement she had seen imitated could be acquired by a girl who lived in a tenement house and worked in a shirt factory (62). She finds a job, but the wages are too meager to improve her social standing. Maggie wants so dreadfully to escape from a life of poverty that she begins seeing local bartender Pete. Believing him to be a respectable man who could liberate her from poverty, she sleeps with him out of wedlock. Unfortunately when she discovers that he isnt respectable in the slightest, it is too late. He leaves her for a more desirable woman and by then her family has rejected her. She has nowhere to turn but to the devil. Crane conveys doubt towards someones ability to control his/her fate and change his/her condition by creating a main character that is unable to break away from a life of poverty and suffering, no matter how hard she tries. She leaves her family in hopes of a better life and ultimately winds up in a coffin. A prominent theme in Walden is the importance of self-reliance. Thoreau moves to Walden Pond in order to break away from civilization and have time alone in order to reflect. Thoreau stresses that he was self-reliant during this time. With the exception of borrowing an axe, he builds his house on his own. He states that it is What a man thinks of himself that determines, or rather indicates, his fate. He means that the opinions of others regarding oneself matter little compared to ones own opinion of

oneself. One must rely on oneself to succeed in life or to change your situation. Before moving to Walden Thoreau lives two miles away in the town of Concord, Massachusetts. He would often do civic duties, looking after livestock, roads, and trees. He watered the red huckleberry, the sand cherry and the nettle-tree, the red pine and the black ash, the white grape and the yellow violet, which might have withered else in dry seasons (Walden). After a long period of this it becomes evident to him that his townspeople will not admit him to the list of town officers nor will they grant him any sort of allowance for his duties. He finds that he must shift for *himself+ and so he turned to the woods where his purpose was to transact some private business with the fewest obstacles. This is an instance in which his belief in the importance of self-reliance is exemplified. He is doing work and relying on his fellow townspeople to compensate him. Realizing that this wont happen, he turns to himself to make a change. He moves to Walden Pond and becomes self-reliant. Alternately, Stephen Crane conveys criticism of the benefits of self-reliance by showing Maggie as a girl who tries to be self-reliant and ends up dead. Maggies brother Jimmie tells her that shes either got to go teh hell or go teh work (49). She finds a job sewing collars and cuffs. The wages are too little to make any difference in her life, and at night she must return home to her [drunken] mother (Maggie) Later in the story, Pete leaves her and her family refuses to take her back. That night she stays with an old woman who lives on the floor above them. The reader encounters meet Maggie again after an unknown period of time as passed. She is now on her own and forced to be self-reliant. She knows that she has no chance of ever rejoining society or bettering her condition on her own. Walking down the street she passes a priest who she hopes will help her. He steps aside and does not give her a chance. This priest was her last chance at possibly improving her life. With no chance of rejoining society she wanders the streets until she meets her demise. Crane shows that a person living under harsh conditions and in poverty needs other people in order to improve his/her life. Throughout the story Maggie must rely on either her mother, Pete, and at one point the old woman who allows

Maggie to sleep at her house. When she can no longer rely on these people and is forced to count on herself wanders the streets, and all hope of her advancing in society is lost. Henry David Thoreau moves to Walden Pond to detach himself from civilization and meditate. His commentary, Walden criticizes the way of life that much of The United states lead. Stephen crane is a realist whos story Maggie: A Girl of the Streets gives a shockingly accurate depiction life as a poor immigrant in New York. Thoreau and Crane express related ideas about materialism of and contrary ideas about self reliance, and fate vs. choice in determining ones future.

Works Cited Crane, Stephen. Maggie A Girl of the Streets. Ed. Kevin J. Hayes. Comp. Stratford Publishing Services. Boston: Bedford/St Martin's, 1999. Print. "sadfg" ["asdf"]. asdf: n. pag. Print. Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. 2005 ed. New York City: Barnes & Noble, 2003. Print.