Thoreau vs.

Crane Comparison Essay

Abbigail Willis
CAP 9 English
Red Group
December 23, 2014

Henry David Thoreau, in Walden, and Stephen Crane, in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets,
agree in their views on philanthropists and material acquisitions, while disagreeing on their

Abbigail Willis
December 23, 2014
Red Group
views of fate vs. choice in determining ones path. Walden is a compilation of personal
reflections and opinions written by Henry David Thoreau while he lived in the woods, trying to
get away from the evils of the world. In Walden, Thoreau discredits the motivations of so-called
philanthropists and writes about the unnecessary burden of material possessions. He also shares
his views on how ones work ethic and personal motivation will determine their life path.
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is a fictional realist novella about an immigrant girl living in New
York City during the Progressive Era. Throughout the story, Crane shows the illegitimate
motives of those who consider themselves philanthropists and how the seeming need for
possessions can become overwhelming. Crane also illustrates the effect that ones circumstances
can have of the outcome of ones life.
Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane would agree that philanthropists are hypocrites.
Henry David Thoreau believes that philanthropists do good not because they sincerely care for
others, but for personal gain or reassurance that they are doing the right thing. Thoreau writes
that Philanthropy is not love for ones fellow-man in the broadest sense . . . I never heard of a
philanthropic meeting in which it was sincerely proposed to do any good to me, or the like of
me (50). He then says, Nay [philanthropy] is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which
overrates it (51). He believes that philanthropists do not deserve all of the credit they are given
by others for doing good because helping the needy is not their only motivation, and therefore
they are selfish and secretive about their true intentions. Stephen Crane also believes that most
philanthropists use philanthropy as a means of helping themselves rather than helping others.
Early on in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Crane discusses a preacher who comes to the soup
kitchen, using the hungry as his audience. He writes, You are damned, said the preacher. And
the reader of sounds might have seen the reply go forth from the ragged people: Wheres our

Abbigail Willis
December 23, 2014
Red Group
soup? (46). This passage illustrates someone who believes that he or she is doing good and
helping those in need, when really he or she is taking advantage of the ones who they really
should be helping. When describing the old beggar who takes Jimmie in for the night, Crane
says, She received daily a small sum in pennies. it was contributed, for the most part, by
persons who did not make their homes in that vicinity (43). Here, Crane shows that even the
rich, who consider themselves philanthropists, will not help the woman, while the poor, who can
barely get on by themselves, see a need and try their best to help fulfill it.
Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane would also agree on their views of material
possessions. Thoreau hypothesizes that the world would be better without so many extra things
because without them people could be more focused on working hard to become self-reliant.
When talking about the unnecessary obsession with material possessions, Thoreau says, I had
three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted
daily, when the furniture of my mind was undusted still, and I threw them out the window in
disgust (24). Revolted at the constant maintenance that all possessions require, Thoreau writes,
But lo! mean have become the tools of their tools (25). Thoreau believes that material
possessions are more of a curse than a blessing, due to their useless nature and need for constant
care. He is appalled that many people are foolish enough to bend over backwards for such things,
and believes that the world would be better if possessions were not of such great importance to
people. Stephen Crane also writes about how the luxuries of life can become an unnecessary and
overwhelming burden. Maggie, who grows up in dim and dreary household, obsesses over the
need for one nice thing. Crane writes, She spent some of her weeks pay in the purchase of
flowered cretonne for a lambrequin (53).For Maggie, the time and money she puts into the
lambrequin are a huge sacrifice, and Pete, in turn, entirely overlooks her efforts, thinking that the

Abbigail Willis
December 23, 2014
Red Group
lambrequin is of no importance. Maggie begins to feel a stronger want for possessions as she
spends more time with Pete and the people he associates with. At one point, Maggie began to
have an intense dislike for all her dresses (59). This is probably due, at least in part, to the
obsession of the people that she sees when out with Pete with fancy, but otherwise worthless,
possessions.
While Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane agree in their views on philanthropists
and possessions, they differ in their views of fate vs. choice in determining ones path in life.
Henry David Thoreau would say that ones outcome in life is entirely dependent on the choices
that one makes. Thoreau writes that, When we consider what, to use the words of catechism, is
the chief end of man, and what are the true necessaries and means of life, it appears as if men had
deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they
honestly think there is no choice left (5). This exemplifies Thoreaus belief that ones whole life
is in ones own hands, and that anyone can choose where, how and under what circumstances
one lives. When telling the story of a young man who said he would live as Thoreau if he had the
means, Thoreau states that, I would have each one be very careful to find out and pursue his
own way, and not his fathers or his mothers or his neighbors instead (48). This again implies
that one has total control over ones life and can pursue and succeed in any path of ones own
choosing. Crane, on the other hand, would say that the outcome of ones future weighs heavily
on the circumstances into which is was born, rather than on the choices that one makes. Maggies
situation in life shows that any one person has very limited control over ones circumstances.
Crane writes that, The girl, Maggie, blossomed in a mud puddle (49). Though Maggie does
blossom, it is still in a mud puddle. Because of Maggies circumstances, her future is decided for
her and there is never much that anyone, especially Maggie, can do to change it. Maggies

Abbigail Willis
December 23, 2014
Red Group
brother, Jimmie, tells her, Mag, Ill tell yeh dis! See? Yehve edder got teh go teh hell or go
teh work! (49). Maggie ends up going to hell - becoming a prostitute. There was no way for
Maggie to avoid this because of the circumstances that she was born into. Maggie demonstrates
how much a persons circumstances control their lifes path.
Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane are both well-known and widely respected
authors. Each had his own influential, seemingly revolutionary ideas for his time period. Thoreau
believes that men should be self-reliant, and therefore philanthropists are a hindrance to the
development of society into a more self-reliant place. Crane would agree, saying that not all selfordained philanthropists really help those who need it most, and more often take advantage of
who they claim to help. Thoreau writes that material possessions are a burden and an
unnecessary waste of time, money and resources. Crane also believes that possessions are useless
and unessential to living a successful life, and that in the long run, most prove to burden, rather
than to relieve, those who own them. Lastly, Thoreau talks about how ones decisions determine
ones path in life, and how each person can choose his or her own lifestyle, no matter the
circumstances. Crane disagrees, saying that ones circumstances weigh heavily on ones
decisions and the outcome of ones life, and that there are certain conditions under which one has
almost no control over what happens to them whatsoever. Despite their different eras and
opinions, Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane highlighted the same topics of
philanthropists, possessions, and the determining factors of ones life path in their respective
works.

Abbigail Willis
December 23, 2014
Red Group

Works Cited
Crane, Stephen. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (A Story of New York). Ed. Kevin J. Hayes.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1999. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. Economy. Walden and Civil Disobedience. Ed. Owen Thomas.
New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1966. 1-54. Print.