The Irony of Mary

Maggie, a girl of the streets is a depressing story about a girl and her family growing
up in poverty. The story takes place in nineteenth century Bowery, New York, on a street aptly
named Rum Alley. Maggies family consisted of her mother Mary, her two brothers Jimmie and
Tommie, and her father who is not named. Both of her parents were alcoholics who beat their
children. Maggies mother, however, stands out more than her father, because of her name.
When thinking of the name Mary, the first person that comes to mind is Mary, the mother of
Jesus. This Mary is the picture perfect image of a mother. She is kind and holy, chosen by God
himself to be the perfect mother. It is ironic that Maggies mother would share the same name.
Maggies Mary was a cruel and evil mother, whom Crane often compared to the devil. Maggies
Mary fits well into the archetype of a devil figure, This figures main aim is to oppose the hero
in his or her quest (Archetypes) where Maggie is the hero and her quest is to be free of her
household. In order paint Maggies mother in this role, Crane uses the color red, religious
comparisons, and her figures of speech.
The color red plays a large role in shaping Maggies mother. As an archetype, the
color red is used to mean blood, sacrifice; violent passion, disorder, fire, emotion, wounds, or
death (Archetypes). Mary is only described as red when she is drunk, or when she is attacking
her children. Good Gawd, she howled. Her eyes glittered on her child with sudden hatred.
The fervent red of her face turned almost to purple. The little boy ran to the halls, shrieking like a
monk in an earthquake. (Crane). Whenever Mary is doing something devilish, she turns as red
as the devil himself. Crane also uses the color red to describe compare their household to hell.
After a large fight between the mother and father, the house is described as this: A glow from

the fire threw red hues over the bare floor, the cracked and soiled plastering, and the overturned
and broken furniture (Crane). By comparing the household to hell, Crane is indirectly
comparing Mary to the Devil since she is the leader of the household.
Crane also uses religious comparisons and contrasts to label Mary as the devil. The
house is often described as hell, and object in it are also given a sinister or religious description.
In the second chapter, the sink is described as unholy. Also in chapter two, Tommie is said to
be wrapped in an an old quilt of faded red and green grandeur, where red and green are the
color of Christmas. It is ironic that this Marys child would be wrapped in a Christmas colored
blanket, since the birth of her namesakes child is the reason Christmas exists. In chapter four,
Jimmie grows very cynical religion. Above all things he despised obvious Christians (Crane).
This is important because, as much as Mary likes to say things like Good Gawd, she is not an
obvious Christian, or Jimmie would despise her more than anything else. Jimmie was afraid
of neither the devil nor the leader of society (Crane), which holds true when you put his mother
in the place of the devil. Though she beat him relentlessly, Jimmie never flinched or tried to run
away from his mother, because he was not afraid of her, the devil.
One final way he compares Mary to the devil is by giving her certain mannerisms.
Mary is constantly saying Good Gawd, even though one can infer she doesnt think of God as
good. In chapter ten, after Maggie had ran away with Pete, Mary whispers She's deh devil's
own chil', Jimmie, (Crane). She calls Maggie a child of the devil, and since she is Maggies
mother, she is basically calling herself the devil. The way Mary talks about Maggie going to
hell, or being damned almost makes it seem like she has a control over it. In the end of the story,
when Maggie comes home after Pete abandoned her, Mary kicks her out of the house. This
inadvertently leads to Maggies death. If Mary had allowed her back into the house, Maggie

would not have had to turn to prostitution, which most likely would have prevented her early
demise. Through this series of events, Mary indirectly causes Maggies death. This fulfils her
role as the devil archetype, because she set out to oppose Maggies quest and succeeded in
stopping her.
It is ironic that Maggies mother is named Mary. Her namesake was a selfless mother,
who was chosen to raise one the most important figures in Christianity. Maggies mother
however, related closer to the devil than her namesake. She was an abusive alcoholic, who
turned a devilish red every time she was upset. She took such bad care of her children that even
the neighbors dubbed their house hell. Her goal throughout the story was to stop Maggie from
leaving the house, which is the main goal of a devil figure archetype. Even the way she spoke,
telling people to go to hell, or calling her child the daughter of the devil, placed her as the devil
incarnate. Mary ultimately succeeds in her goal, Maggie dies, and with her goes the only real
humanity of the household.







Works cited
"Archetypes and Symbols" Handout. Introduction to Fiction. (Professor Jane Walsh) Butler
County Community College. n.d Print.

"BYU Harold B. Lee Library." Mary, Mother of Jesus. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 April 2014.
Crane, Stephen, and Adrian Hunter. Maggie, a Girl of the Streets. Peterborough, Ont.:
Broadview, 2006. Print.
Novotny, George T. "Crane's Maggie, A Girl Of The Streets." Explicator 50.4 (1992):
225. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 30 April 2014.