Lena West Red Group 11-17-12 From the Forest to the City Maggie, by Stephen Crane and Walden,

by Henry David Thoreau contain characters that search for a better life and believe philanthropy is flawed, though the texts disagree about ones need to labor and be self-reliant in order to be content. A similarity between the two texts is that the characters are seeking a better life. Also, both stories talk about philanthropy and how effective it is. To oppose these similarities, self-reliance is a difference in these two books. In Walden, the ability to be self-reliant is significant, while Maggie looks for anyone to help her. In addition to this, Thoreau criticizes the workingman, while Maggie is desperate to find a job to support herself and her family. Walden and Maggie have parallel subject matter, though many subjects contrast each other. Characters in both texts change their ways to acquire a better life. This can clearly be seen in Walden because Thoreau changes his lifestyle by moving away from any neighbor. In order to improve his life, Thoreau lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself (7). Thoreaus ideal life is to live away from others and to live simply. To seek a better life Thoreau believes that our lives must be stripped of possessions (34). Thoreau believes that possessions cause unnecessary problems. As a way to acquire this richer lifestyle he moves his life away from the business of everyday turmoil and enjoys being alone. This is Thoreaus way of finding more liberated, simplistic, and happy days. This theme can also be viewed in Maggie as the main character, Maggie, changes her unhappy life into a seemingly better one. Maggie, as well as many others during the time, lives a dirty, cheap, and sad life in a tenement with her abusive parents and unhelpful brother. Maggie reflects the people of her times desire for a more extravagant life as she wondered if the culture

and refinement she had seen... could be acquired by a girl who lived in a tenement house and worked in a shirt factory (62). Maggie aligns herself with a higher-class man, Pete, to fulfill her dreams of luxury. In addition to this attempt for an improved existence, Maggie works at a factory, earning small wages to support herself and her ungrateful family. Crane shows the hardships of the time period in which Maggie lives as she loses her grip on Pete and her job. Maggie, desperate for any job that will provide help, becomes a girl of the crimson legions (89). Even this last attempt at a rich lifestyle falls from her hands, and Maggie kills herself to escape her constant failures. Stephen Crane uses Maggie to show that many people at the time wanted a better life but, even through constant struggles, this was extremely hard to come by. Both books claim that philanthropic efforts do not always work. Thoreau is not a philanthropist and he does not believe that philanthropy is successful. In Walden, Thoreau states that philanthropy is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates it (63). This idea that people are more concerned about helping themselves than about helping others can also be seen in Maggie many times. Thoreau does not believe that philanthropy is the best way to help others, rather that people should just go about doing good (61). Philanthropic efforts, according to Thoreau, are tainted because of human egocentricity and desire to be recognized while they should be made out of the desire to help others. Stephen Crane depicts philanthropy as unreliable. As explained in Walden, philanthropy is corrupted by human selfishness. Maggie goes to Pete for help, hoping he will give her a place to live because her family has kicked her out. Instead of helping her out of kindness, Pete puts himself first and kicks her out. Pete kicks her out because he worries that Maggie will get him inteh trouble wid deh ol man (86). Searching for help elsewhere, Maggie encounters a clergyman and hopes that he will help her. The clergyman does not aid Maggie and walks away

to keep his respectability (87). This action of self-centeredness is closely related to Thoreaus thought of philanthropy being pointless because narcissism prevented the clergyman from helping Maggie. In addition to this, the failure of philanthropy towards Maggie shows how hard life was in her era when she worked hard to help herself and nobody would help her. Thoreaus actions and statements demonstrate his belief that self-reliance is necessary for happiness. Thoreau moves himself away from his town and functions purely on his own, demonstrating that it is easy to live while depending only on oneself. Thoreau shows his belief that going through life alone is much better when he says, the man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off (60). To add to this theme of self-reliance, Thoreau believes that the wisdom of elders is irrelevant. In Walden, Thoreau lives his own life and has his own experiences believing that his elders probably cannot tell me any thing (12). Thoreau lives his own life and is fully functional, showing that this is the life all people should have. Contrasting this independent lifestyle, Maggie constantly searches for aid from philanthropists. When she meets Pete he seemed like a golden sun to Maggie (60). His apparent wealth and confidence towards everything gave Maggie optimism about her future, hoping she will be with him and live his life of ease. She associates herself with him, hoping he will help her and stay with her. Another person Maggie and her brother sought refuge with was the old woman in their tenement. When Maggies mother kicks her out of the house, Maggie flees to the gnarled old woman who is always there to provide support (84). Maggies regular pursuits for help demonstrate that it is normal to need assistance from others, whereas Thoreau believes that one should be self-reliant.

In Walden, Thoreau explains his views on labor. Thoreau pities the laboring man for having skills only for work, not for being intellectual. He believes that laborers have no time to be any thing but a machine (9). The idea that getting a valuable education is superior to making money is clearly expressed in Walden (43). Thoreaus view is that labor will take time away from doing useful and enjoyable activities. In addition to this, Thoreau believes that when living simply, laboring extensively is not necessary. Thoreau experimented with this and found that by working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living showing his principle that laborers do not need to toil for long periods of time for a happy life (58). In Walden, labor is unnecessary for basic living and detrimental to academic endeavors. Stephen Crane counters Thoreaus views against labor. Timmy felt obliged to work and became a truck driver (47). Once Jimmy has a job he is pleased to have money. This hunger for money reflects the thought that labor is necessary to support oneself. In addition to this, he tells Maggie that she must, go teh work (49). Maggie begins working at a clothing factory to support her family. This gets her meager wages that will not support her familys troublesome spending on beer. After her mother kicks her out, Maggie becomes a prostitute as a last chance for money. Maggies constant need for money from a job to live contrasts Thoreaus view that laboring is not necessary. In both texts, characters work hard to achieve a desired lifestyle. For example, Maggie works in a factory and seeks help from acquaintances. Furthermore, Walden and Maggie both refute the productivity of philanthropy, saying that it does not work to help people. In Walden, self-reliance is vital to success, while in Maggie, many characters rely on others for support. Another difference is that laboring is necessary for survival to Maggie, though Thoreau believes that it is useless and detrimental to happiness. Both texts have characters that seek happiness and

debate philanthropy, though Walden highlights the necessity of self-reliance and the plight of the laboring man.