American Dreram

American Dream

Throughout society people always have one focus to motivate them to do well. That is to live a live that is absent from poverty and to live happily. To prosper and succeed, rather then to beg and fail. In reading Maggie a girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane, Maggie would have to be the one that stands out most for this attempt. She strives to do what she can to get out of that house. For her it is finding some one that will love her and that will support her, so that she can reside outside of the Johnson's house. When Maggie begins to works for a sweat shop she uses her pay for fine dresses, in return she will then be cherished and loved. She meets her brother friend Jimmie and begins to go on dates with him. He takes her to fine plays and museums, showing Maggie the fine side of society.

During the plays that Pete takes her to, the ending tends to shadow Maggie and her take on the living the American Dream. The hero is always poor in the play and then comes to overtake the rich and at the end is then rich. Maggie after the plays is always happier and just imagines herself in those particular shoes. Maggie exclaims how "the way in which the poor and virtuous and eventually surmounted the wealthy and wicked" To go from being poor and having nothing, to being rich, and having everything at your finger tips. This is actually probably pretty popular in action that the poor would probably do after watching a play like the one that was performed. During her imagination you can see her passion to live a better life that is full of prosperity. Unfortunately Maggie cannot live out this imagination but has to come back to her life of striving for better.

Over the course of the book, Maggie focuses all her life on living a better live and making decision that will get her there. If she can find a man that is well off to support her then she will be able to live a well life. For example when she meets Pete she uses her pay to clean up the house so that Pete will look differently upon her. So that he can be her knight and shining armor that will rescue her from this house of misery. To take her to a castle that is full of great things rather then a drunken family that has invested more money in liquor then on the well being of there children. Maggie certainly depicts her view of the American Dream and does what she can to strive towards it. The route Maggie takes is being with Pete and making her self worthy in fine dresses, so that hopefully he will take her away, and live out a better life. One night she asks Pete if he loves her he then assures her of that, but it gives great relief to Maggie showing a sign of being rescued finally. She soon moves in with Pete after being badgered by her drunken mother. Her mother tells her not to ever come back if she leaves and of course she does.

Upon Maggie's aspirations of living a live that is well off from the struggles of the rest of society she now is going to have a reality infliction that will only throw her off her path of living the American Dream. Pete who was giving her every aspect of the American Dream turns of her for another woman, and of course Maggie leaves. She goes back home but is not welcome, so begins to live a life of prostitution. It is quite sad to depict how one can only begin to enjoy the life of well ness, then