One particular scene that has bothered me the most in reading Crane's 'Maggie: A Girl of the Streets' occurs in the first section of the novel. I was absolutely terrified by the behavior of Mary and her husband and the chaos that they create in their home for their children. Children are born with an innate innocence that does not deserve to be destroyed by the actions of others, especially their parents. One can never help the circumstances under which they are brought up and at a young age it must be a terrifying thing to live a life like Maggie's day in and day out. What saddened me the most about this whole scene was the return of Jimmie from his unsuccessful errand for the neighbor to find Maggie still awake. It is one thing to endure this environment together, another to endure it alone. No one should have to hide in their own home. The scariest and most disturbing part of this situation is the similar recurrence of this night in other homes and with other families. This scene brings to light a serious issue within society that is one of the hardest issues to fix.
I too found this to be one of the most disturbing scenes in the book, but I think that Crane is using this scene to prepare his audience for more to come. By begging Maggie, A Girl of the Streets with such a psychologically disturbing setting, Crane lays the foundation for his characters (Maggie, Jimmie, the mom and dad). With this initial perception of Maggie’s life and her relationship to the people around her, the audience has to empathize with Maggie, learning to guard themselves from shocking stories just as she must guard herself. Killingsworth talks about this connection in “Appeals in Modern Rhetoric.” There are “three positions” that “model” the rhetorical situation (Killingsworth, 28). The two applicable here are medium of exchange (“the language and form of communication as well as the cultural context that includes obstacles that must be worked through or avoided”) and background (“the former position of the author and audience”) (Killingsworth, 28). The background between what the author knows about Maggie and what we as readers know is extremely divided. Crane knows and already empathizes with Maggie, in this case, concerning her upbringing, environment, and the beginning of her character development. However, Crane also knows that his audience needs some help understand Maggie. This is where the medium of exchange comes in. Crane’s language and form of communication is through shocking narrative. As Maggie lives through crushing situations, so does the audience. Crane tells an amazing story and motivates us (his audience, the readers). This book is simply heart breaking, and to say so is a huge complement to the author, because it means he succeeded with his rhetorical positions.
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