Free Will or Determinism?

Mary Kate Ryser-Oatman

Journal #11

Stephen Crane, Maggie; A Girl of the Streets

February 12, 2009

"The girl, Maggie, blossomed in a mud puddle. She grew to be a most rare and wonderful production of a tenement district, a pretty girl. None of the dirt of Rum Alley seemed to be in her veins" (Crane 967).

Unlike the rest of her family, Maggie grew up to be a lovely-looking young woman who seemed to be destined for something better than the slums.

After reading this passage for the first time, I was really hopeful that at least one member of the Johnson family would grow up and get out of the slums. The first couple of chapters described a really terrible home life that included alcoholic parents who would beat their children. I figured that, especially in those days, it would be almost likely that the children have the same fate as their parents. Maggie seemed like a character who was different in the sense that she would be able to break free of the alcoholic, un-kept, loud-mouth stereotypes that Irish immigrants faced during this era.

Looking back at this passage, it is quite ironic and depressing that a girl with so much potential fell short because of her environment. Maggie did try to escape by working at the collar and cuff factory, but I think she realized the potential of her beauty, and used this to attract Pete's attention and eventually go into prostitution. Maggie's home life was one aspect of her environment that held her back. Her abusive mother made her feel like she was worthless, and the lack of love and affection seemed to show her that love is unattainable to her.

Maggie's situation reminded me of a concept I learned in philosophy last quarter. The idea of Free will vs. determinism is something I thought a lot, because on one side, I felt that I am free to make my own decisions and nothing can stop me. Then again, I can understand a determinist point of view as well, and how our heredity and environment affect the decisions we make in the future. I think that Maggie was a victim of determinism. Her poverty-stricken family was in the lowest social class, and it was nearly impossible back in those days to rise up from poverty and really do something with your life. Her alcoholic parents most likely passed on the alcoholic gene to her, and in the story we see her alcoholic tendencies when she is with Pete.

According to Wikipedia, Stephen Crane chose more of a free will stance on life rather than determinism, as he took his own path in life rather than following in the footsteps of his well known mother and father at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, "Crane infrequently attended classes and ended the semester with grades for four of the seven courses he had taken. After only one semester, Crane transferred to Syracuse University...Attending merely one class (English Literature) during the middle trimester, he remained in residence while taking no courses in the third trimester." Crane chose to follow a different path than his minister father and his very religious mother, and make his own decisions about his future. He dropped out of school because he did not like it, and it was of his own free will. Unlike Maggie, Crane was able to break free of his environment and heredity and make his own decisions.