Essay --

Stephen Crane established the inbredist style in literature, where concepts from real life are reconstructed in a fictional context to instance the plight of those trapped in the lower dregs of society. Naturalistic writers depict their characters as individuals oppressed by their environment their acts are based upon their need to snuff it and the social order they fall into. The ideals of naturalism claim that human beings are not free, but that their actions are controlled and pre-determined mostly by the setting they inhabit and the natural or learned traits they possess. Keith Fudge, author of Sisterhood Born from Seduction Susanna Rowsons Charlotte Temple, and Stephen Cranes Maggie Johnson states that Maggie A Girl of the Streets has been recognized as Naturalisms first novel (Fudge 43). The scientific philosophy comprised in naturalism originated from Charles Darwins theories of evolution that claim that only the fittest will survive. Throughout the novel, numerous degrees of survival and liquidation are depicted whether it is by Jimmie, Mary, Nell, or Maggie herself. Maggie A Girl of the Streets is indeed a naturalistic tale of both physical and mental survival. Cranes use of setting, tone, characters, and concepts of Darwinism illustrate this unequivocally. I will begin by fleshing out the concepts of Darwinism and Social Darwinism in the context of the novel and its relation to naturalism. Clarence Darrow spoke this famous furrow that exemplifies Social Darwinisms philosophy, which is universally misattributed to Charles Darwin, It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change. The environment is of significant importance to s... ... of righteous sense just as it exist in the Galapagos Islands of Darwin. Crane inserts isolated statements which serve to reinforce the Darwinian aspects of the novella. There is a zeitgeist of natural history that runs throughout. The stud y of fact retelling of dreadful events, such as when Crane writes, The babe, Tommie, died. He went away in an insignificant coffin, his small waxen hand clutching a flower that the girl, Maggie, had stolen from an Italian, she and Jimmie lived. helps tidy up this point. The first example of Naturalist literature, this novella is original in its approach to literary theory it is not overly explicit nor does it call for change or revolution in a Marxist fashion, it is unadorned and free of opinion. Maggie Girl a Girl of the Streets solely recounts what is observable and the rules that are known to be true up in the natural world.