Nina Boggan

Green Group
Thoreau Crane Comparison Essay
Henry David Thoreau, while writing Walden, as well as Stephen
Crane while writing Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, compare their views
on philanthropy and the illusion of progress, but contrast their views on
the importance of wealth. In Walden, Thoreau states his opinion on the
current way of life that most Americans choose to live. He believes that
one should only dedicate themselves to lifes necessities, and not to
focus on the materialistic aspects of life. Thoreau writes from his house
by Walden Pond, secluded from almost all civilization. He stresses the
importance of self-reliance, which he demonstrates by living alone and
building his own home. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets tells the story of a
girl named Maggie, growing up in the slums of New York during the
Guilded Age. Maggie has a rough childhood, like most of the children in
her neighborhood. She and her brother Jimmy are raised by their
alcoholic mother, who has lost the ability to care about anyone or
anything. Maggie eventually finds herself being brought into the world
of prostitution, and she soon looses her family. The reader comes to
realize at the storys end that Maggies romantic outlook on life was
her downfall. She eventually takes her own life, while she listens to the
sounds of a flourishing world around her, one that she could not be
part of.

Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane would agree on their

views of philanthropy. Thoreaus opinion is that philanthropy is
greatly overrated (Walden 63). He writes that philanthropy is
commonly believed to be the answer to helping those less fortunate
than others. People who call themselves philanthropists claim use their
wealth to help those in need, out of the pure kindness of their heart.
Thoreau thinks that these people are really nothing but selfish, and
that they are doing all of these good deeds to make themselves feel
better, or for recognition, not to help others. Thoreau writes, it is our
selfishness that overrates [philanthropy] (Walden 63). He believes in
the concept of philanthropy, but those who call themselves
philanthropists are automatically acting for the benefit of themselves.
Crane showcases this idea when he introduces the character of an old
woman who lives in the same tenement as Maggies family. The old
woman is known to be an angry, grumpy old lady, but she surprisingly
acts in a way that someone who calls himself or herself a philanthropist
should. Crane describes the woman as a gnarled and leathery
personage who could don, at will an expression of great virtue
(Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 43). Maggies brother Jimmy runs away
from home after a huge family fight, and he knocks at the old womans
door. Her expression of great virtue was when she told Jimmy all
nights yeh can sleep here (Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 43) in
exchange for a beer. The woman doesnt claim to be a selfless, giving

person of any kind, but she still displays an act of philanthropy.

Towards the end of the story, Maggie is in desperate need of help. She
comes across a man who is everything that is good and generous. He
is part of the church, which claims to practice philanthropy. Maggie
thinks he can help her, but instead, he avoids her on the street in fear
of being seen with a prostitute. This part of the story reflects Thoreaus
belief that philanthropists care greatly about their title, and not the
responsibility that comes with it. Unlike the clergyman, the old woman
had no reason to let Jimmy stay with her, but she did, which was a true
act of generosity.
Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane would also agree on
their views of the illusion of progress. The main point of Thoreaus
writing of Walden was to tell readers to live simply. As civilization
advances more and more, people start to move farther from that. The
progress of the human race can sometimes create the illusion that
everything is evolving for the better, but according to Thoreau and
Crane, this might not be true for everyone or everything. When the
United States started to become an industrialized country, there was
popular saying one mans gain is another mans loss (Walden 48).
Thoreau writes that one mans gain is not anothers loss. He means
that as big business becomes more and more important in the
countries economic system, people start to get competitive, so
competitive that they have no problem taking away from others just so

they can be on top. Thoreau says the complications of life are what
have caused corruption in the government system, because people are
so willing to knock others down for power. In order to avoid this
selfishness that is sweeping the nation, Thoreau says that one must
not depend on the distant and fluctuating market(Walden 53). Crane
uses Maggie: A Girl of the Streets to show the negative effect of the
progress that was currently starting in the big US cities. Maggie and
her brother were raised in tenements, small, broken down buildings
intended for immigrants who worked in factories. Immigrants in
factories were seen as a positive by many upper class citizens. The
less fortunate were forced into working in inhumane conditions while
the leaders of the companies they worked for lived good lives. In the
areas where tenements were, there was a lot f crime and poverty. This
often affected the younger people living there, like Jimmy and Maggie.
It is said that In the lower part of the city [Jimmy] daily involved
himself in hideous tangles (Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 39), blending
in with the criminal atmosphere of his home. The world beyond the
tenements where people did as they pleased with their money and
power was made joyous by distance and seeming
unnaproachableness (Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 89) . The
industrialization of the United States is often seen as a good thing
because of the illusion of progress, but Thoreau and Crane provide
reason that not all of it was beneficial.

While Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane would compare

their views of philanthropy and the illusion of progress, they would
contrast their views on the importance of wealth. Thoreau argues that
wealth is irrelevant to ones happiness. He believes in living by
providing for himself, without the need to purchase things from other
people. One of his most famous quotes, simplify, simplify, simplify
(Walden 11) supports this belief. Thoreau says Rather than love, than
money, than fame, give me truth (Walden 41), stressing the
unimportance of money and what one can use it for. At the end of
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Maggie hears the varied sounds of life
(Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 89) before she ends her own by jumping
in the river. These sounds can be seen as the possibilities that Maggie
could have had if she had been raised in a family that wasnt so poor.
She wouldnt have been driven to prostitution if it werent for her harsh
upbringings. Maggies lack of wealth was a large part of what caused
her death. When Jimmy alienates Maggie from his life, Crane writes
that he publicly damned his sister that he might appear on a higher
plane (Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 69). Jimmy is ashamed of what
Maggie has done with herself, a byproduct of their harsh upbringing.
Wealth would have erased this situation all together, taking away
Maggies descendance into the dark world that she leaves her family
for. Thoreau thinks that wealth only brings out the worst in people, but
Cranes writes a story that shows the worst of people who lack wealth.

Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane show many similarities

in their writing, as well as differences. They both compare their views
on philanthropy and the illusion of progress, but have completely
different opinions of wealth and materialism. Thoreau writes about the
importance of a life without too much, while Crane tells the story of a
girl who didnt have enough. Despite their opposite arguments, both of
these authors provide an accurate interpretation of America at the
start of the industrialization of America in the late 19th and early 20th
century.