Thoreau vs. CraneIsadora GermainRedHenry David Thoreau, in Walden, and Stephen Crane, in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, disagree in their views on self-reliance and fate vs. choice, but agree in their views on material acquisitions. In the book Walden, Thoreau writes about his time spent on the shore of Walden Pond. As a transcendentalist, his ideas about life are romanticized greatly through his writing. In the novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Crane writes about the life of a girl, Maggie, who lives on the poorer side of New York. Throughout the book Maggie is lead into many unsafe situations because of the bad influences surrounding her. She eventually dies because of these influences. Crane offers the view of a naturalist in this book by writing about realistic, but sometimes disturbing, situations. Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane would disagree on their views of self-reliance. Thoreau shows the possibility of being self-reliant through the time he spends in the wilderness. Crane explains the many hardships of attempting to be self-reliant by showing how difficult it is for Maggie to survive without her family. In the book Walden, Thoreau leaves his normal life behind to discover how to live self-reliantly. Using a, borrowed axe [he] went down to the woods by Walden Pond nearest to where [he] intended to build his house (Thoreau 27). Thoreau explains how he built his house by himself at Walden. He does this without the help of any professionals, proving that he can provide for himself. Thoreau believes that humans learn better by doing things themselves, instead of being taught in a classroom. Thoreau, was informed on leaving college that [he] had studied navigation if [he] had taken one turn down the harbor (35). he would have learned more about the subject. Thoreau believes that one should learn through their own experiences, instead of being taught be someone else. He relies on himself for the knowledge he acquires. In the novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Maggie fully relies on her boyfriend, Pete. When Pete decides to leave her she asks him, But where kin I go?It was a direct attempt to give him some responsibility in a matter that did not concern him (Crane 86). Crane explains how dependent Maggie is on others, and when Pete leaves her she has nowhere to go. Maggie is wandering the streets alone when she comes to a river, at [her] feet the river appeared a deathly black hueThe varied sounds of lifecame faintly and died away to a silence (89). After everyone Maggie cares about abandons her, she believes she has no other choice but to kill herself. Crane conveys the idea that true self-reliance is rare. Thoreau and Cranes opinions on the topic of self-reliance are blatantly opposite of each other. Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane would also disagree on their views of fate vs. choice. Thoreau believes that the outcome of ones life is completely dependent on the choices they make. Crane thinks that the fate of someone is set in stone, and what happens to them is not up to the choices they make. In Walden, Thoreau describes a teamster on a highway. He conveys that his highest duty is to fodder and water his horses! What is his destiny to him compared with the shipping interests? (4) Thoreau writes that this teamsters fate is up to the decisions he makes within his job of taking care of his horses. Thoreau believes that, what a man thinks of himself, that is what determines, or rather indicates his fate (4). Thoreau states that the outlook a man has on himself, and the decisions he makes is what determines his fate. Thoreau believes that a persons fate is never set in stone. Crane believes the opposite. He thinks that the circumstances in which a person is raised determines what happens to that person. Jimmie feels unsafe in his own home he cast furtive glances at his mother. His practiced eye perceived her gradually emerge from a muddled mist of sentiment until her brain burned in drunken heat (42). Jimmie is used to his mother being drunk, and is careful around her to avoid getting hurt. Jimmies fate determines what community he is born into, determining his fearful relationship with his mother. According to Crane, fate determines the daily events in peoples lives. One day, in the novel Maggie, a stone had smashed into Jimmies mouth. Blood was bubbling over his chin and down upon his ragged shirt (37). These incidents are common in the slums of New York, and happen to people Jimmies age daily. Thoreau is explaining that the lives of the people in this novel are determined by what they were born into. Unlike Thoreau, Crane believes that a persons life is determined by that persons fate, not by the choices they make. Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane agree on their views of material acquisitions. Both authors agree that a person does not need many possessions to be happy or satisfied. In Walden, Thoreau warns his readers to, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes (15). Thoreau tells his audience to watch out for companies that are more focused on a persons possessions than the quality of a person. Another thing Thoreau wonders is, how our houses our built and paid for[he] wonders that the floor does not give way under the visitor while he is admiring the gewgaws upon the mantelpiece (25). He believes that the emphasis is wrongfully put on a persons material acquisitions instead of what should really matter to a person. Crane agrees with Thoreau. In Maggie, most of the characters have barely any possessions. Crane shows how the poverty present in this community causes the people to help each other out more. When Jimmie is kicked out of his apartment by his parents, a woman who lives in his apartment building says to him, Well come an stay wid me teh-night. I aint got no moral standin (84)Transcendentalists are known for idealizing situations so they sound more appealing than they would be in reality. Thoreau does this throughout Walden. Naturalist writers write about very realistic matters that would be very likely to happen among real people. Crane is a naturalist and shows this when writing about the gruesome situations present in Maggie. Their views contrast on the topics of self-reliance and fate versus choice, but compare on the topic of material acquisitions. Although their ideas can be very different, they both offer many good points about each one.