Maggie: A Girl of the Streets Society and Class Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

She received daily a small sum in pennies. It was contributed, for the most part, by persons who did not make their homes in that vicinity. (3.2)

People who live in the Bowery are poor, but they find a way to scrape by. Begging in your own destitute neighborhood isn't very profitable, so you have to home in on people from outside the area. That's the scheme used by the Johnsons's neighbor.

Quote #2

Above all things he despised obvious Christians and ciphers with the chrysanthemums of aristocracy in their button-holes. He considered himself above both of these classes. He was afraid of neither the devil nor the leader of society. (4.12)

Jimmie loathes a lot of things, chief among them religious folks and anyone who shows off their money. In fact, he doesn't like anyone who displays his or her identity at all. He's above it all because his sense of superiority is based on fear, not on God or wealth.

Quote #3

He himself occupied a down-trodden position that had a private but distinct element of grandeur in its isolation. (4.18)

Jimmie protects himself by embracing his own lower-class position. His feeling of superiority is something he has constructed out of being tough—to him, violence is where cool is at.