Constraints On Self-Making In "Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets"

637 Words3 Pages
In “Maggie,” we see internal and external constraints on self-making. More importantly, the external factors that are in play before the character is even aware that they are holding them back. Maggie is, first and foremost, a woman. This, during the time period, is restrictive enough. However, her social standing is damaging and leaves her with few options to become more. Maggie, as a member of the lower, working class has very little knowledge of what the “others” are like aside from those she passes in the street. Upon meeting Pete, Maggie uses him as a guide for how the “others” live and behave: “She vaguely tried to calculate the altitude of the pinnacle from which he must have looked down upon her” (969). Pete is the catalyst for Maggie’s desire for more than she has or is. She becomes more aware of the conditions she is living in and is ashamed: “Some faint attempts she had made with blue ribbon, to freshen the appearance of a dingy curtain, she now saw to be piteous” (969). This statement given to us by the narrator illustrates not only her desire for a better way of life but also, by the narrator choosing words to describe her actions that she would never use, how unobtainable her desires are. She has another vain attempt at bettering her physical surroundings: “She spent some of her week’s pay in the purchase of flowered cretonne for a lambrequin. She made it with infinite care and hung it to the slightly-careening mantel, over the store, in the kitchen” (970). Then further in the chapter, amidst the wreckage she caused, “Maggie’s red mother, stretched on the floor, blasphemed and gave her daughter a bad name” (970). This scene depicted is symbolic and somewhat foreshadowing of Maggie’s future. She spends money from her menial job to purchase
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